tSn doping is used as an effective method to increase conductivity and photosensitivity of highly trans-parent nanostructured ZnO thin films, prepared by multisource vacuum evaporation followed by airannealing. The microstructural characterizations reveal formation of polycrystalline ZnO and ZnO:Snfilms, with grain size ∼16–20 nm and preferred orientation along (0 0 2) plane. Increased electrical con-ductivity by a factor ∼102on doping, coupled with the enhancement of transmittance (80–90% in visiblerange) and photoconductivity lends these wide band gap films (∼3.21 eV–3.24 eV) application in photo-voltaics. Fast response to ethanol (5–7 s) indicates suitability of these films in gas sensors.