The hot-wire technique was used to entirely deposit n-i-p-type amorphous silicon solar cells with microcrystalline p-layers. Open circuit voltages of V-oc = 864 mV and short-circuit current densities of j(SC) = 13.7 mA cm(-2) have been achieved. However, the best initial conversion efficiency achieved was only eta(initial) = 6.2% due to a low fill factor of less than 60%. These low fill factors are associated with a high series resistivity of the p/TCO-interface and of the TCO material grown on muc-Si:H p-layer. A first attempt to study the stability of these n-i-p cells showed, that in comparison to the cells prepared at lower T-S the fill factor degraded less when the n- and i-layer were deposited at T-S = 340 degreesC. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.