Over the last decade the progress in amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) for photovoltaic applications received significant interest in science and technology. Advances in the understanding of these novel materials and their properties are growing rapidly. In order to realise nc-Si in the solar cell, a thicker intrinsic layer is required. Due to the indirect band gap in the crystallites, the absorption coefficients of nc-Si are much lower. In this work we have used electrochemical etching techniques to produce silicon nanocrystals of the sizes 3-5 nm. Viable drop cast deposition of Si nanocrystals to increase the thickness without compromising the material properties was investigated by atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy, photoemission spectroscopy and optical absorption methods. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.