The dynamics of excess carriers in hydrogenated amorphous silicon is investigated by a novel “photoconductivity versus photoabsorption” analysis which combines CW and transient measurements. The technique enables one to establish experimentally whether and at which time excess carriers created by a light pulse reach a steady state equilibrium distribution. For a representative sample we find that the equilibrium is reached in about 40 μsec and that the recombination and trapping rates are comparable. A theoretical model describing the dynamics is also presented.