The effect of morphology and surface treatment on the performance of solution-grown ZnO nanorods as an electrode in a dye sensitized solar cell is demonstrated. Treatment includes the addition of EosinY during growth, post growth NaOH-based treatment and the production of nanorod-nanoparticle hybrid structures. The electrodes were sensitized using the organic indoline dye DN216 and dye-sensitized solar cells were prepared. Charge transfer dynamics and light harvesting properties were studied by absorbance spectroscopy, I–V measurements, voltage-decay measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The introduction of EosinY to the precursor solution was found to increase the diameter of the rods and to produce nano-scale roughness. This lead to an improvement in dye loading and surface passivation against recombination leading to both an increase in VOC and JSC of the device, compared to ZnO nanorods deposited without EosinY. Subsequent treatment of as-deposited ZnO nanorods in aqueous NaOH increased the surface area by producing tube-like nanostructures, without compromising the electron mobility. When compared to untreated nanorods, this morphology improves dye loading and increases electron lifetime, which then leads to a higher fill factor and Voc. A significant increase in JSC and drastic decrease in VOC are obtained for a hybrid electrode consisting of nanorods and nanoparticles which is both caused by a higher surface area and faster back-recombination. Highest efficiencies were obtained by post-deposition treated nanorod electrodes deposited from EosinY containing solutions.