Grain boundary (GB) in multicrystalline silicon (me-Si) degrades a conversion efficiency of mc-Si solar cell. To reduce the GB effect, we investigated various parameters such as the preferential GB etch, etch time, tin-doped indium-oxide (ITO) electrode, heat treatment, and emitter layer effect. Among various preferential etchants such as Sirti, Yang, Secco, and Schimmel, a Schimmel etchant illustrated an excellent preferential etching property. We used RF magnetron sputter grown ITO film as a top contact metal. ITO films served as a top electrode as well as an effective AR coating layer. With well-fabricated me-Si solar cells, we 2 were able to achieve conversion efficiency as high as 16.6% at the input power of 20 mW/cm(2) (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.