In this paper, polycrystalline CuInxGa1-xSe2 (CIGS) thin film absorbers were prepared by selenizing electrodeposited (ED) precursors with two different levels of selenium content: rich in selenium and poor in selenium. Comparing the results obtained by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and illuminated current-voltage (J-V), it was found that absorber layers processed from Se-poor ED precursors shows better crystalline quality and increased gallium incorporation, which thus improved cell performance, compared to the layers grown using Se-rich ED precursors. The best cell fabricated from Se-poor ED precursor shows a conversion efficiency of 1.63% at AM1.5 global light. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.