Heterojunction solar cells (a-Si: H/c-Si) are interface dominated devices and hence suppression of charge carrier recombination at the a-Si: H/c-Si interface is a very important aspect. Till now, all efforts and results have been obtained on mono-crystalline silicon. It would be very important from the technological point of view if similar high efficiency devices are realized on cheaper mc-Si wafers. The aim of this work is to study the passivation effect on mc-Si wafer by i-a-Si: H thin layer. The i-a-Si: H thin passivation layer is deposited on mc-Si wafer by Hot-Wire CVD at various filament temperature and silane flow rates. The passivation effect has been studied by effective carrier lifetime measurement and implied open circuit voltage. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.