This study investigates the effect of different growth parameters on the structural and optical properties of ZnS thin films, prepared using spray pyrolysis. The films were prepared using different Zn:S ratios (between 1:1 and 1:6) and in different growth solutions: (A), zinc chloride and thiourea and (B) dehydrated zinc acetate and thiourea, both in distilled water. By varying the Zn:S ratio in the films, the optical properties (absorption and photoluminescence) show that different species are created during film growth. This was deduced from the wide emission band appearing in the green region of the photoluminescence spectra, and from the change in band gap, which varies between 3.2 and 3.5 eV. Films formed from solution (A) with a Zn:S ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 show the best morphology and transmission. ZnS has a wider band gap than other conventional II-VI semiconductors utilized in various electronic and optical devices and can be expected to provide a useful window layer of solar cells which leads to an improvement in overall efficiency by decreasing absorption loss. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.