The microstructure and crystallization kinetics of electron beam evaporated Si on ZnO:Al coated glass for polycrystalline solar cells was studied by electron backscatter diffraction and optical microscopy at various deposition temperatures. A time dependent analysis of the dynamics of the crystallization allowed for the individual determination of growth and nucleation processes. The nucleation process of Si on ZnO:Al was found to be influenced by a variation of the deposition temperature of the amorphous Si in a critical temperature regime of 200 °C to 300 °C. The nucleation rate decreased significantly with decreasing deposition temperature, while the activation energy for nucleation increased from 2.9 eV at a deposition temperature of 300 °C to 5.1 eV at 200 °C, resulting in poly-Si which comprised grains with features sizes of several μm. © 2010 Materials Research Society.