The aim of this communication is to show that it is possible to extend the model of the electronic transport developed for amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) to microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H). By describing the electronic transport with the mu(0)tau(R) products (mobility x recombination time) as a function of the Fermi level, we observed the same behaviour for both materials, indicating a similar type of recombination. Moreover, applying the normalised mu(0)tau(0) product (mobility x life-time) obtained by combining the photoconductivity (sigma(photo)) and the ambipolar diffusion length (L-amb) measured in individual layers, we are able, as in the case of a-Si:H, to predict the quality of the solar cells incorporating these layers as the active [i] layer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.