Photovoltaic properties of buried metallic contacts (BMCs) with and without application of a front porous silicon (PS) layer on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells were investigated. A Chemical Vapor Etching (CVE) method was used to perform front PS layer and BMCs of me-Si solar cells. Good electrical performance for the mc-Si solar cells was observed after combination of BMCs and thin PS films. As a result the current voltage (I-V) characteristics and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) were improved, and the effective minority carrier diffusion length (Ln) increases from 75 to 110 pm after BMCs achievement. The reflectivity was reduced to 8% in the 450-950 nm wavelength range. This simple and low cost technology induces a 12% conversion efficiency (surface area = 3.2 cm(2)). The obtained results indicate that the BMCs improve charge carrier collection while the PS layer passivates the front surface. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.