In this paper we present the sensitivity to volatile organic vapors of the surface potential of metalloporphyrin coated ZnO nanorods. The hybrid material has been growth with a novel approach based on the addition of metalloporphyrins to the hydrothermal precursor solution. The resulting film shows a complete coating of the ZnO surface aimed at improving the photovoltaic characteristics. Herewith we studied the chemical sensitivity of the surface potential measured in dark and in white light conditions. For sake of comparison, the responses of the hybrid material have been compared with those obtained from a casting coated porphyrin functionalized ZnO nanorods. The same coordination metal was used in both cases. Results show that material preparation strongly influences the sensor properties, and in case of the hybrid material the illumination with visible light elicits an increase of the sensor response to strong electron donor such as amine.