The suitability of ZnO:Al thin films for polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film solar cell fabrication was investigated. The electrical and optical properties of 700-nm-thick ZnO:Al films on glass were analyzed after typical annealing steps occurring during poly-Si film preparation. If the ZnO:Al layer is covered by a 30 nm thin silicon film, the initial sheet resistance of ZnO:Al drops from 4.2 to 2.2 Omega after 22 h annealing at 600 degrees C and only slightly increases for a 200 s heat treatment at 900 degrees C. A thin-film solar cell concept consisting of poly-Si films on ZnO:Al coated glass is introduced. First solar cell results will be presented using absorber layers either prepared by solid-phase crystallization (SPC) or by direct deposition at 600 degrees C. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.