The present study explored first time the better radiation tolerance of gallium-doped silicon solar cells as compared to conventional boron-doped silicon solar cells after heavy fluence of I MeV electron irradiation. One of the approaches to improve the end of life of silicon solar cells is by increasing the effective base carrier concentrations. Analysis of the carrier removal rate RC in boron, gallium and aluminum-doped Si solar cells showed that carrier removal effects can be partially offset by using gallium as dopant instead of boron. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.