Multifunctional stannum oxide compact bilayer modified by europium and erbium respectively doped ytterbium fluoride (SYEu/SYEr) is designed and prepared by a convenient and low-cost spin-coating approach for dye-sensitized solar cell. The most important three functions of the compact bilayer are reducing the recombination rate of electrons as a barrier layer, enlarging the utilization of sunlight as a luminescence material both with down-and up-conversions, and enhancing the long-term stability of the device as a defender of the dye. Besides, the construction of double layer with down-and up-conversion functions has no significant influence on giving rise to quenching effect. Furthermore, these findings offer potential applications for photovoltaic device with a wide range response of sunlight via the variation in rare-earth species and cell structures. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.