Emerging low cost and large area periodic texturing methods promote the fabrication of complex absorber structures for thin film silicon solar cells. We present a comprehensive numerical analysis of a 2mm square periodic polycrystalline silicon absorber architecture designed in our laboratories. Simulations are performed on the basis of a precise finite element reconstruction of the experimentally realized silicon structure. In contrast to many other publications, superstrate light trapping effects are included in our model. Excellent agreement to measured absorptance spectra is obtained. For the inclusion of the absorber into a standard single junction cell layout, we show that light trapping close to the Yablonovitch limit can be realized, but is usually strongly damped by parasitic absorption. © 2012 Optical Society of America.