This paper describes a Kelvin probe based inspection technique which measures surface potentials (SP) at various illumination conditions and derives the delta surface potential (Delta Vsp) and surface band bending (phi) of photovoltaic (PV) cells. The Delta Vsp is the difference of surface potential measured in light and dark conditions respectively. The delta surface potential (Delta Vsp) is related to charge injection and carrier lifetime, while the surface band bending (phi) is associated with the surface condition. A white light and short wavelength light illuminations are used to distinguish the bulk effects from that of the surface. A scanning vibrating Kelvin probe system was built to image PV cells with and without illumination. Experiments were performed on both single crystalline silicon (sc-Si) and multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) cells. It is found that the sc-Si cells possess a higher Delta Vsp but a lower phi than that of mc-Si cells. The average Delta Vsp and phi are 350 mV and 50 mV for the sc-Si cells, and 280 mV and 110 mV for the mc-Si cells. Process defects on a surface could affect both parameters, and it is found that the Delta Vsp is not uniform and could be reduced to 170 mV at a defect on the mc-Si cells. The high Delta Vsp and low phi(s) are expected to contribute to the high conversion efficiency on a cell. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.