Large grained polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) absorbers were realized by electron beam induced liquid phase crystallization on 2 μm periodically patterned glass substrates and processed into a-Si:H/poly-Si heterojunction thin-film solar cells. The substrates were structured by nanoimprint lithography using a UV curable hybrid polymer sol-gel resist, resulting in a glassy high-temperature stable micro-structured surface. Structural analysis yielded high quality poly-Si material with grain sizes up to several hundred micrometers. An increase of absorption and an enhancement of the external quantum efficiency in the NIR as a consequence of light trapping due to the micro-structured poly-Si/substrate interface were observed. Up to now, only moderate solar cell parameters, a maximum open-circuit voltage of 413 mV and a short-circuit current density of 8 mA cm-2, were measured being significantly lower to what can be achieved with liquid phase crystallized poly-Si thin-film solar cells on planar glass substrates indicating that the substrate texture has impact on the electrical material quality. By reduction of the SiC interlayer thickness at the micro-structured poly- Si/substrate interface defect-related parasitic absorption was considerably minimized. This encourages the implementation of nanoimprinted tailored substrate textures for light trapping in liquid phase crystallized poly-Si thinfilm solar cells. © 2013 SPIE.