In a scenario of large volume photovoltaic production, the cost of the Si starting substrate is almost 70% of the total module level cost. In such cases thin film crystalline silicon technology has large potential to reduce the cost of solar cells if a method to combine a high-quality Si film with a low-cost substrate is found. A process of transferring a thin porous silicon layer (PSL) onto a ceramic substrate like alumina is described. Separation of PSL from its parent Si substrate is obtained either by double porosity layer formation followed by high temperature annealing at 1050degreesC in H, or by carrying out electrochemical etching for a sufficiently long time at constant formation parameters. The transfer of PSL to alumina substrate is carried out using spin-on oxide or pyrolytic oxide as an intermediate layer. The quality of the transfer is checked by means of a scratch test. Reflectance characteristics of PSL transferred onto alumina substrate reveal an effective light passing.