Herein we report a novel green chemical route for the simultaneous reduction and exfoliation of metal salt–graphite oxide composites for the synthesis of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles dispersed over graphene using focused solar radiation. The one-step energy efficient technique resulted in an excellent dispersion of 3D nanoparticles over 2D graphene, paving the way for creating novel hybrid nano structures which can be useful in heterogeneous catalysis, energy and environmental applications.