We investigated how silicon nanowires affected the photovoltaic performance of silicon solar cells with a pyramid textured surface. The diameter and height of silicon nanowires increased and reached saturation with electro-less etching time after Ag nanoparticle deposition. As a result, the amount of light absorbance increased with electro-less etching time while the effective minority-carrier recombination lifetime decreased with increasing electro-less etching time. The dependencies of light absorbance amount and effective minority-carrier recombination lifetime on electro-less etching time meant that a maximum power-conversion efficiency (PCE) was achieved at a specific electro-less etching time, similar to 2 min, to produce silicon nanowires similar to 52 mu m in diameter and similar to 221 mu m in height. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.