Arrays of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were synthesized on quartz substrates by the hydrothermal method. The nanorods were grown mainly in a vertical orientation, had a length of 500–800 nm and an average cross-sectional size of  40–80 nm. Gold nanoclusters with average sizes of 9 ± 1 nm and 4 ± 0.5 nm and tin with average sizes of 30 ± 5 nm and 15 ± 3 nm were formed on top of the ZnO nanorods. Annealing was carried out at 300 °C for 2 hours with the  formation of arrays of ZnO/SnO2 nanorods. For the manufacture of resistive sensor elements, V/Ni contact metallization was applied on top of the samples. The study of the electrophysical characteristics of the ZnO/Au and ZnO/ SnO2 nanorods arrays showed that exposure to UV radiation of different intensity leads to a change in the electrical resistance of the sensor structure, and also affects the time of establishing the readings of the obtained samples.