Metal oxide semiconductors with lower lying conduction band minimum and superior electron mobility are essential for efficient charge separation and collection in PbS-sensitized solar cells. In the present study, mesoscopic SnO₂ was investigated as an alternative photoanode to the commonly used TiO₂ and examined comprehensively in PbS-sensitized liquid junction solar cells. To exploit the capability of PbS in an optimized structure, cascaded nPbS/nCdS and alternate n(PbS/CdS) layers deposited by a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method were systematically scrutinized. It was observed that the surface of SnO₂ has greater affinity to the growth of PbS compared with TiO₂, giving rise to much enhanced light absorption. In addition, the deposition of a CdS buffer layer and a ZnS passivation layer before and after a PbS layer was found to be beneficial for efficient charge separation. Under optimized conditions, cascaded PbS/CdS-sensitized SnO₂ exhibited an unprecedented photocurrent density of 17.38 mA cm⁻² with pronounced infrared light harvesting extending beyond 1100 nm, and a power conversion efficiency of 2.23% under AM 1.5, 1 sun illumination. In comparison, TiO₂ cells fabricated under similar conditions showed much inferior performance owing to the less efficient light harnessing of long wavelength photons. We anticipate that the systematic study of PbS-sensitized solar cells utilizing different metal oxide semiconductors as electron transporters would provide useful insights and promote the development of semiconductor-sensitized mesoscopic solar cells employing panchromatic sensitizers.