The influence of various deposition parameters on the electrical and optical properties and the structure of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films was investigated for material prepared by hot-wire (HW) CVD in a new multichamber deposition system, designed for the development of thin film solar cells. Prior to the material studies, careful measurement of the real substrate temperature under the influence of additional HW heating was performed. While good electronic quality and solar cell performance was found for a-Si:H layers, the Lc-Si:H material showed very high spin densities, porosity and a characteristic structural inhomogeneity along the growth axis.