Minority carrier recombination is studied in multicrystalline ingot cast silicon solar cells. The normalized recombination strength G of dislocations is obtained by correlating topogramsof the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) with those of the dislocation densityr.G is obtained by fitting an extended theory of Donolato to the experimental data. The measured G-values vary significantly between adjacent dislocation clusters and correlate with the spatial pattern of the dislocations. All G-values are strongly dependent on the parameters of the solar cell process. The influence of phosphorus diffusion and hydrogenation is shown. After solidification of the silicon, impurities from the crucible enter the ingot and deteriorate its border regions during cooling to room temperature. These deteriorated border regions can be significantly improved byan additional low temperature anneal that is applied after phosphorus diffusion. The experiments indicate that the mechanism of the anneal is external phosphorus gettering into the emitter.