In this report, we present a cost effective simple innovative approach to fabricate double layer anti-reflection (DLAR) coatings using a single material which can provide high qualities of passivation and anti-reflection property. Two layers of SiNx:H films with different refractive indices were deposited onto p-type c-Si wafer using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor by controlling the NH3 and SiH4 gas ratio. Refractive indices of top and bottom layers were chosen as 1.9 and 2.3 respectively. The effect of passivation at the interface was investigated by effective carrier lifetime, hydrogen concentration and interface trapped density (D-it) measurements. The optical characteristic was analyzed by reflectance and transmittance measurements. A superior efficiency of 17.61% was obtained for solar cells fabricated with DLAR coating when compared to an efficiency of 17.24% for cells with SLAR coating. Further, J(sc) and V-oc of solar cell with DLAR coating is increased by a value of similar to 1 mA/cm(2) and 4 mV respectively than cell with SLAR coating. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.