The presence of deep defects in CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells strongly affects the electrical properties and as a result the performance of the cells. Therefore, it is desirable to understand the role of these defect states. This paper describes the detection of electron traps in CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells using deep level transient spectroscopy. Two series of samples with a different activation step (activation in air vs. activation in vacuum) are compared. Electrical injection DLTS uses an electrical pulse to inject electrons in the CdTe. This way a new electron trap could be characterized at 0.44 eV below conduction band in the air activated cells. Optical DLTS uses an optical laser pulse (lambda = 635 nm) to create minority carriers. In this case minority traps are found in both kinds of samples. In the air activated cells two closely spaced defects are detected (0.44 and 0.42 eV below conduction band) with concentrations of a few percent of the background concentration. In the vacuum activated cells a broad band is detected. However, not fully characterized, it is located at approximately 0.4 eV below conduction band. Using the DLTS results, simulations were performed to explain the forward J-V-characteristics of the solar cells. These simulations are in close agreement with the experimental results if the concentrations of the deep traps are taken sufficiently high. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.