A process for deposition of tetragonal Cu2SnS3 (CTS) thin films from methanolic precursor solution of metal-thiourea complex by direct liquid coating (DLC) is described. For synthesis of CTS films, precursor films are first deposited by dip-coating and then thermolysed at 200 degrees C in air for 10 min. Formation of tetragonal Cu2SnS3 is confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) disclosed that Cu and Sn are in oxidation states +1 and +4, respectively. The films are smooth and homogenous with roughness (RMS) of 1-2 nm as revealed by atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical studies show that the energy band gap (E-g) of Cu2SnS3 is 1.12 eV and absorption coefficient (alpha) is > 10(5) cm(-1). The films are p-type with electrical conductivity (sigma) of 0.5 S/cm. The concentration and mobility of holes are about 10(18) cm(-3) and 1 cm(2)/V/s, respectively as determined from Hall measurement. The variation of conductivity in the temperature range 5 to 290 K can be explained by considering a combination of Mott variable range hopping, nearest neighbour hopping and thermionic emission over GB barriers as conduction mechanism. Non-toxic thin film solar cell (TFSC) of graphite/Cu2SnS3/ZnO/ITO/SLG are fabricated by DLC which had power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.10% with open circuit voltage, short circuit current and fill factor of 0.816 V. 6.14 mA/cm(2), 0.42, respectively. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.