The present work proposes the use of a TiO
2
electrode coupled to a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC), all formed by the sequential deposition of nanocolumnar thin films by physical vapor oblique angle deposition (PV-OAD), to enhance the optical and electrical performance of DSCs while transparency is preserved. We demonstrate that this approach allows building an architecture combining a non-dispersive 3 µm of TiO
2
electrode and 1 µm TiO
2
-SiO
2
1DPC, both columnar, in a single-step process. The incorporation of the photonic structure is responsible for a rise of 30% in photovoltaic efficiency, as compared with a transparent cell with a single TiO
2
electrode. Detailed analysis of the spectral dependence of the photocurrent demonstrates that the 1DPC improves light harvesting efficiency by both back reflection and optical cavity modes confinement within the TiO
2
films, thus increasing the overall performance of the cell.