The analysis of injection-dependent charge carrier lifetimes is a well-established method to determine material and interface quality in crystalline silicon wafer-based device structures such as solar cells. However, for thin films, this method has rarely been used. One reason is that the physical interpretation of experimental data must rely on advanced theoretical models. In this study, we show by numerical simulations and analytical approximations that the effective charge carrier lifetime in thin films is heavily affected by space charge regions (SCR) over a wide range of injection levels. By analysis of the characteristic features in the injection-dependent effective charge carrier lifetime curves, qualitative information about SCRs that occur at grain boundaries or interfaces can be obtained. In contrast, information about the defect density can only be extracted in a very limited range of injection levels and the relationship between effective charge carrier lifetime and the quasi-Fermi level splitting, which is limiting the open circuit voltage of wafer-based solar cells, is not valid in thin films. On the basis of this theoretical study, we analyze measurements of effective charge carrier lifetime in 1.5 μ m thin and 2 μ m fine-grained polycrystalline silicon films with lifetimes of up to 100 μ s and find experimental evidence for grain boundary potential barriers. Finally, we present guidelines for optimized photoconductance measurements and the evaluation of charge carrier lifetimes in thin films, in general. © 2013 American Institute of Physics.