This paper addresses the development of intrinsic uc-Si:H films on 30 × 30 cm2 substrate size as an intermediate step towards industry-size substrates (typically ∼1 m2) by PECVD using 13.56 MHz excitation frequency. We succeeded in preparing high quality μc-Si:H i-layers with good homogeneity over 27 × 27 cm2. The corresponding deposition rates were 4-11 Å/s. The excellent material quality of these intrinsic μc-Si:H films was proven by small area (1 cm2) p-i-n solar cells with 8.1 and 6.6 % efficiency at deposition rates of 5 and 10 Å/s, respectively. The doped layers of these cells were prepared in a small area PECVD reactor.