Polycrystalline thin film solar cells with structure ZnO/ZnCdS/CuGaSe2 were fabricated. The absorber layers of CuGaSe2 were prepared by laser assisted evaporation. A multilayer window consisting of reactively evaporated ZnO and sprayed ZnCdS was deposited onto CuGaSe2 to complete the cell; ZnO improves the light coupling and window sheet resistance, and ZnCdS serves as a buffer layer. The electrical and optical properties of the individual layers were studied. The junction behaviour was evaluated using current density-voltage, capacitance-voltage and quantum efficiency measurements, showing that the junction transport is controlled by tunnelling at low temperatures and recombination above room temperature. A conversion efficiency of 5.8% was obtained on an area of 1 cm(2) with cell parameters V-oc = 700 mV, J(sc) = 12.5 mA cm(-2) and FF = 0.56 without antireflection coating. The results obtained are presented and the requirements for optimizing the device efficiency are discussed.