We have reported an alcohol-thermal method to in-situ synthesis of Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals/thin films on Cd/indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) substrates through a direct reaction of Se and Cd. In the synthetic system, ligands and surfactants are not introduced, and concentration of reaction precursors is not high, thus not only it is a very economic and environmental-friendly route, but also the CdSe film without any impurities is obtained. The Cd deposited on ITO substrates by magnetron sputtering acted as dual roles: reactant source and hard template for the final product. The microstructure is analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is deposited on CdSe film to fabricate a hybrid thin film solar cell device with ITO/CdSe/P3HT/Al structure to demonstrate solar light to electrical energy conversion. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.