We propose the use of annealed phosphorus doped amorphous silicon carbide layers (a-SiC:H(n)) deposited by PECVD as emitters in solar cells and explore the effect of the annealing time on the emitter saturation current density (Joe). We use the quasy-steady state photoconductance method to determine the dependence of effective lifetime on excess carrier density and from these measurements we obtain Joe values in the range of 300fAcm −2 for sheet resistances around 100Ω⧸sq. Finally, we obtain effective surface recombination velocity values around 10 4 cms −1 by fitting the measured Joe values with PC1D simulated ones.