In the present work structural, electronic and optical properties of methylammonium lead iodide have been investigated by full potential linearised augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method with the local density approximation. The structural properties; lattice constants, bulk modulus and derivative of bulk modulus are calculated. The direct energy band gap of is found to be 1.52 eV at an R-R point which makes the material suitable for photovoltaic applications. The optical properties; dielectric function, extinction coefficient, refractive index, absorption coefficient, reflectivity, electron energy loss function and photoconductivity of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 are discussed and the analysis confirms reliability of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 material for the solar cell absorption layer.