A series of heterojunctions consisting of intrinsic zinc oxide (ZnO) films and p-type Si substrates have been prepared by DC reactive sputtering. The ZnO films were grown at different conditions, and the influence of growth conditions on photovoltaic (PV) property was discussed. It was found that both growth temperature and oxygen partial pressure play important roles for enhancing the PV effect of the samples. By optimizing growth conditions, the PV efficiency has been improved and also by more magnitudes. The open circuit voltage (V-oc) and short circuit current (l(sc))per square centimeter arrived at 350 mV and 2.5 mA, respectively. The variation mechanism of PV effect with growth conditions has been investigated in order to understand the photoelectric conversion behavior of the ZnO/Si heterojunction. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.