Cu<inf>2</inf>ZnSnS<inf>4</inf> (CZTS) based devices has become increasingly popular due to the better efficiency with different architectures for various types of solar cells. The present work reviews and analyzes the different CZTS based solar cells and its synthesis methods. The possible future prospects in the performance improvement of the CZTS based solar cell is analyzed in the present work with the approach based on the novel device architecture and material property. The novel device architecture using CZTS has electron blocking and hole blocking band offset, which can significantly improve the efficiency of the solar cell. Similarly, the first principle calculation on various composites of the CZTS based compound has revealed some interesting property, which has shown a new route for the CZTS based composite. © 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.