Luminescent down-shifting (LDS) is a purely optical method to improve the short-wavelength response of photovoltaics by red shifting the incident solar spectrum. This work is the first to investigate plasmonic LDS (pLDS) layers applied to c-Si and DSSC solar cells. The addition of pLDS composite layers containing core shell quantum dots CdSe/ZnS was demonstrated to increase the short circuit current density (J(sc)) of c-Si and DSSC devices between 300 and 500 nm, where the QDs is most absorbing. Up to similar to 22% (relative) increase has been achieved for bath cells when compared with cells with no pLDS layers. External quantum efficiency measurements have shown significant enhancement where the solar cells have poor optical response, below 500 nm, while increased efficiency was confirmed with current voltage (I-V) measurements. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.