In this paper, a series of BiOI alpha Cl1-alpha, solid solution electrodes were successfully prepared through a simple electrodeposition method. The obtained electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photocurrent response. We found that all prepared electrodes exhibited p-type conductivity in accordance with reports employing other deposition strategies. What's more, the BiOI alpha Cl1-alpha solid solution showed the best photoelectrochemical activity at alpha = 0.5 due to the balance between the level of conduction band and the light absorption ability of solid solutions. Finally, wet photovoltaic cells with p-BiOI0.5Cl0.5 and n-TiO2 nanotube array electrodes were also constructed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.