Dye sensitized solar cells generally contain a dye adsorbed at a nanostructured oxide surface, a liquid electrolyte and a counter electrode. Recently also a combination with solid molecular hole-conductors, replacing the liquid phase, has shown great promise. Here we present a method for assembling such solid state devices utilizing a combination of high temperature for deposition of the hole-conductor and low pressure for improved purity. The contact between the hole-conductor and the nanostructured oxide is investigated with respect to the microscopic structure, and basic photovoltaic measurements are performed. However, the conversion efficiency also depends on energy matching and fast electron transfer between the dye and the semiconductors. This in turn depends on the detailed interfacial molecular and electronic structure of the dye at the interface. We show how X-ray based spectroscopies can be used to obtain element specific information of the interfacial structure.