In this article, we report ZnO nanorod samples grown on transparent conductive SnO(2):F (IFTO) glass substrates by two different growth routes through hydrothermal method in a closed autoclave. One route is one-step continuous growth for 10 h. The other route is discrete multi-step growth for total 48 h. In this process, fresh solution was repeatedly introduced in every step. The structural, photoluminescence (PL) and photovoltaic properties of the as-prepared nanorod arrays were investigated. The nanorod arrays obtained through multi-step growth show longer rods, higher aspect ratio, larger spacing, better crystalline duality. The PL spectrum of nanorod arrays obtained through multi-step growth shows a strong and sharp near-band-gap emission (UV) peak and a weak green-yellow emission (GY) peak (I(UV)//I(GY) = 7.7), which also implies its good crystallinity and high optical quality. Dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanorod arrays were fabricated, and those grown with discrete multi-step procedure present better photovol taic properties duo to its special morphology and better crystal quality. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.