To allow plating on aluminum, zincate processes are introduced in metallization of silicon solar cells. Different zincate solutions are investigated regarding their adhesion on typical solar cell surface morphologies. Sufficient adhesion (> 1.5 N/mm) on PVD aluminum layers is demonstrated by zincate processes with subsequent plating of nickel, copper and silver on both random pyramid and damage etched surfaces. Small-size (4 cm(2)) back-contact back-junction solar cells with an aluminum or aluminum silicon seed layer are successfully processed in this way. On screen printed aluminum, adhesion has been found to be below 1 N/mm. Microstructural investigation of the failure mode reveals that the aluminum peels off the silicon surface in this case. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.