A series of systematic investigations on microcrystalline silicon (pc-Si:H) solar cells at high deposition rates has been studied. The effect of high deposition pressure and narrow cathodesubstrate (CS) distance on the deposition rate and quality of microcrystalline silicon is discussed. The microcrystalline silicon solar cell is adopted as middle cell and bottom cell in a three-stacked junction solar cell. The characteristics of large area three-stacked junction solar cells, whose area is 801.6 cm(2) including grid electrode areas, are studied in various deposition rates from 1 to 3 nm/s of microcrystalline silicon. An initial efficiency of 13.1% is demonstrated in the three-stacked junction solar cell with microcrystalline silicon deposited at 3 nm/s. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.