Net greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise in the last decade, with the largest growth coming from increased CO 2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Solar photovoltaic absorbers are one of the most promising renewable energy technologies for combatting this crisis. In particular, thin-film chalcogenide absorbers have been fervently investigated, offering the possibility of reduced material and processing costs, improved low-light performance and greater manufacturing flexibility as compared to conventional silicon solar cells. CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 are the current market-leaders in this area; however, these materials suffer from the use of rare/toxic el- ements. Lead-halide perovskites, which have been at the forefront of photovoltaic research for the last decade, show remarkable defect tolerance, but also have stability and toxicity concerns. Emerging chalcogenide absorbers, such as Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS), have shown reduced efficiencies due to killer defects and performance-limiting disorder. The complex quaternary structure containing similarly-sized cations increases the number of possible defects, with the dominant killer defect Sn Zn stabilized by widespread Cu-Zn disorder. As a result, CZTS solar cells may already be reaching the limit of their performance, motivating the search for alternative candidate absorbers through high-throughput screening studies. These studies search for materials that are earth-abundant, with favorable optoelectronic properties, but ignore the role of defects and disorder.