The site occupancies and thermoelectric properties of tin-based clathrates Cs8M4Sn44□2 （M = Zn, Cd, Hg） and CssSn44□2 were studied by the first principle calculations. We had provided an efficient way to probe the relationship between the crystalline structure and power factor. Detailed analyses indicated the p states of Sn at 16i and 24k sites together with the p states of M substitute contributed significantly to the maximum power factor, yet Cs atoms nearly did not. The dangling bonds of vacancies in Cs8Snn44□2 are also discussed. The power factors of p- and n-type CssMaSn42 and Cs8Sn44□2 at optimal temperature and carder concentration are predicted. Our results suggest that Cs8ZnaSn44□2 is a promising candidate at the 5.25 ×10^19 cm-3 hole carrier concentration as a high temperature thermoelectric material that is competitive to the state-of-art Ge-based clathrate thermoelectric materials.
