A review of the application of porous silicon (PS) in multicrystalline silicon solar cell processes is given, The different PS formation processes, structural and optical properties of PS are discussed from the viewpoint of photovoltaics. Special attention is given to the use of PS as an antireflection coating in simplified processing schemes and for simple selective emitter processes as well as to its light trapping and surface passivating capabilities. The optimization of a PS selective emitter formation results in a 14.1% efficiency me-Si cell processed without texturization, surface passivation or additional ARC deposition. The implementation of a PS selective emitter into an industrially compatible screenprinted solar cell process is made by both the chemical and electrochemical method of PS formation. Different kinds of multicrystalline silicon materials and solar cell processes are used. An efficiency of 13.2% is achieved on a 25 cm(2) Inc-Si solar cell using the electrochemical technique while the efficiencies in between 12% and 13% are reached for very large (100-164 cm(2)) commercial me-Si cells with a PS emitter formed by chemical method. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.