Boron doped BSF is evaluated as a critically important factor in high efficiency p-Si solar cell designing. Recombination losses pronounced as effective surface recombination, Seff, are evaluated by simulation and experimentally. Spectral response analysis of n+-p-p+ solar cells with highly doped deep BSF (~1.6 m) demonstrates a possibility of providing Seff of 75±20 cm/s without surface passivation. Whereas Seff for thick heavy doped p+ layers are determined mainly by recombination inside the layer, for thinner p+ layers the surface recombination is a critical factor. n-Si wafers symmetrically doped by thermal diffusion or by implantation of boron ions were used for experimental validation of simulation results of surface recombination contribution and its dependence of charge build in coating. The recombination parameters of the samples were measured using the photoconductivity decay method. For the full article>>