High power lasers are increasingly used for low cost fabrication of solar cell devices. High power laser processes generate crystal defects, which lower the cell efficiency. This study examines the effect of low power laser annealing for the removal of high power laser induced surface defects. The laser annealing behavior is demonstrated by the significant decrease of photoluminescence generated from dislocation-induced defects and the increase of band-to-band emission. This annealing effect is further confirmed by the X-ray diffraction peak reversal. The dislocation density is quantified by observing etch pits under the scanning electron microscope (SEM). For as-melted samples, the dislocation density is decreased to as low as 1.01×106cm−2 after laser annealing, resulting in an excellent surface carrier lifetime of 920μs that is comparable to the value of 1240μs for the silicon starting wafer. For severely defective samples, the dislocation density is decreased by 4 times and the surface carrier lifetime is increased by 5 times after laser annealing.