Nanocrystalline CdSe and Al:CdSe semiconductor thin films have been successfully synthesized onto amorphous and FTO glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. Aqueous solutions containing precursors of Cd and Se have been used to obtain good quality films. The optimized films have been characterized for their structural, morphological, wettability and optical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the films are polycrystalline in nature with hexagonal crystal structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies show that the film surface is smooth, uniform and compact in nature. Water wettability study reveals that the films are hydrophilic behavior. The formation of CdSe and Al:CdSe thin film were confirmed with the help of FTIR spectroscopy. UV-vis spectrophotometric measurement showed a direct allowed band gap lying in the range 1.673-1.87 eV. Output characteristics were studied by using cell configuration n- CdSe/Al:CdSe vertical bar 1M (NaOH + Na(2) + S)vertical bar C. An efficient solar cell having a power conversion efficiency of 0.38% at illumination 25 mW cm(-2) was fabricated. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.