A detailed analysis of the electrical response of In0.3Ga0.7As surface quantum dots (SQDs) coupled to 5-layer buried quantum dots (BQDs) is carried out as a function of ethanol and acetone concentration while temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra are also analyzed. The coupling structure is grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Carrier transport from BQDs to SQDs is confirmed by the temperature-dependent PL spectra. The importance of the surface states for the sensing application is once more highlighted. The results show that not only the exposure to the target gas but also the illumination affect the electrical response of the coupling sample strongly. In the ethanol atmosphere and under the illumination, the sheet resistance of the coupling structure decays by 50% while it remains nearly constant for the reference structure with only the 5-layer BQDs but not the SQDs. The strong dependence of the electrical response on the gas concentration makes SQDs very suitable for the development of integrated micrometer-sized gas sensor devices.