Metal‐insulator‐semiconductor inversion layer (MIS‐IL) silicon solar cells are of significant interest for terrestrial solar electricity production due to their simple, energy‐saving fabrication process. In this work we present experimental results for an improved MIS‐IL silicon solar cell design based on the truncated‐pyramid concept. The cells exhibit independently confirmed 1‐sun efficiencies above 17%, by a clear margin the highest values ever reported for this promising class of photovoltaic devices. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.