With this work, we introduce numeric three-dimensional simulation of metal spiking into highly boron doped surfaces of n-type silicon solar cells, which is moreover performed with a simulation of the quasi steady-state photoconductance technique. This setup serves as a virtual experiment to simulate the dark saturation current density j(0,met) of metallized boron-doped emitters with respect to metal spikes originating from the silver-aluminum (Ag-Al) contact. With the results obtained from this simulation model we approach quality and quantity of increased j(0,met) and give detailed insight to which degree a solar cell's performance is possibly harmed by this effect. We show that metal spikes penetrating into boron-doped emitters are of harmless nature concerning j(0,met) until their tips reach depths where boron doping concentration is lower than approximately 10(18) cm(-3). Deeper spikes then lead to an exponential increase in j(0,met) as more and more carriers from emitter and also the base are able to diffuse to its tip and recombine there. With the help of j(0)-results obtained experimentally in combination with the simulation results, we discuss the influence of spikes on emitter recombination, the benefits that can be achieved with deeper emitter doping profiles, and suggestions for the further development of pastes to contact boron-doped surfaces. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.