Copper indium disulphide, CuInS2, is a promising absorber material for thin film photovoltaic which has recently attracted considerable attention due to its suitability to reach high efficiency solar cells by using low-cost techniques. In this work CuInS2 thin films have been deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis onto glass substrates at ambient atmosphere, using different composition solutions at various substrate temperatures. Structural, chemical composition and optical properties of CIS films were analysed by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy. Sprayed CIS films are polycrystalline with a chalcopyrite structure with a preferential orientation along the < 112 > direction and no remains of oxides were found after spraying in suitable conditions. X-ray microanalysis shows that a chemical composition near to stochiometry can be obtained. An optical gap of about 1.51 eV was found for sprayed CIS thin films. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.