Abstract: In recent years, the thin-film solar cells have got the fast development and application for its advantages, such as economical use of the raw material, low cost of the substrate, high conversion efficiency, stable performance, etc. In this paper, some kinds of thin-film solar cells, such as the CdTe cells, the CIS cells, the CIGS cells, the CZTS cells, etc., are introduced and analyzed from the aspects of the history and current status, structure and preparation method, advantages and disadvantages, respectively. Finally, the development trend and its challenges are discussed, such as improving the conversion efficiency, reducing the costs of raw material, and solving the key problems of the practical applications.