The work is devoted to the creation and research of solar active Ag/ZnO nanostructured arrays obtained by a combination of electrochemical and chemical methods. In order to enhance a solar activity of the electrodeposited in a pulsed mode nanostructured zinc oxide arrays and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites thereon we analyzed morphology, structure, electrical, electronic and optical properties of the electroplated 1-D ZnO as well as Ag nanoparticles, deposited from silver sol and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites formed by applying Ag nanoparticles to the ZnO surface. The investigated electrical and electronic parameters of ZnO and Ag/ZnO, which we obtained from their current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics, are the electrical resistivity rho, the height phi of the Schottky barriers in the electron depletion regions, the concentration of the fully ionized donor impurity N-d, the density N-ss of surface states and the width of the electron depletion region omega. The improved UV sensitivity of the electrodeposited in the pulsed mode 1-D ZnO and enhanced solar activity of Ag/ZnO were valued by dark and light current-voltage characteristics and through their temporal response curves under the influence of UV and visible sunlight. Analysis of electronic and electrical parameters, response and recovery performance of the obtained 1-D ZnO arrays and Ag/ZnO nanocomposites thereon let us to select the optimum manufacturing conditions for the creation of solar active plasmonic Ag/ZnO nanostructured arrays with high photosensitivity, fast response and reset times, and reproducible characteristics. So, our studies have allowed the development of a new solar active Ag/ZnO material for photocatalytic oxidation-reduction processes that can be used as photoelectrode for photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminations or for green hydrogen production by water splitting. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.