The minority‐carrier lifetime of polycrystalline CdTe has been measured for a variety of samples produced by two different growth techniques. The CdS/CdTe solar cell structures were either grown by a proprietary spray technique at Photon Energy, Inc. or by close‐spaced sublimation at the University of South Florida. The photoluminescence decay lifetime is investigated as a function of grain size, excess carrier density, and temperature. Results are consistent with carrier recombination at grain boundaries, indicate some defects act as traps, and show relatively high efficiency solar cells can be made from material exhibiting sub‐nanosecond lifetimes.