Texturing of silicon surfaces is an effective method for improving the efficiency of silicon solar cells. Etching by using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is more attractive than other texturing processes because TMAH is non-toxic, and high-quality anisotropic features can be realized without any metal ion contaminants. In this study, TMAH texturing conditions are varied to optimize the surface morphology of silicon wafers. Excellent optical properties are obtained. This is because of the formation of pyramidal structures with different random sizes but uniform shapes; in fact, when the optimal etching conditions (2% TMAH, 10% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) at 80 degrees C) are used, the reflectance is only 10.7%. In comparison with NaOH texturing, the TMAH process described here yields smaller pyramids with smoother (111) facets, leading to improved performance in silicon heterojunction solar cells, with a conversion efficiency of 17.8%. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.