A conducting polymer composite, poly(3-octylthiophene)/cadmium sulfide (POT/CdS) was first synthesized. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) depict the morphology of the samples, defining that CdS was successfully coated by poly(3-octylthiophene) molecules. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared spectroscopy (IR) show that there is a chemical interaction in the composite. The energy gap of the POT/CdS composite is lower at 0.824 eV, which also shows that the optical performance of the new material is far superior to POT or CdS separately, by ultraviolet-visible spectra (UV-vis). Solar cell was sensitized by POT/CdS. A solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 0.581% was attained with the system. The results show that POT/CdS nanocomposites are promising materials with excellent performance characteristics in photoelectric applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.