A lead electrode was anodized by potential cycling for various times in the region -0.35 to +0.75 V/SCE (sweep rate, 200 mVs-1) in 0.1 M NaOH + 0.1 M Na2SO4 at 80-degrees-C. The anodic lead oxide films obtained were found to contain mostly alpha-PbO with varying amounts of alpha-PbO2 and to show improved semiconducting behaviour. The lead oxide films were characterized by X-ray diffraction UV-visible reflectance, laser Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and impedance and photoelectrochemical techniques. The oxide growth rate under the conditions given above is found to be high, yielding a film about 10 mum thick in 1-2 h of potential cycling time. The lead oxide film thus formed shows a varying photocurrent density with increase in potential cycling time. This behaviour has been attributed to changes in the composition and thickness of the oxide film. The lead oxide film obtained by anodization for 1 h showed a 15.1% quantum yield in 0.1 M Fe(CN)64- redox electrolyte and a solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency of 0.33%.