A Microwave Photoconductivity Decay (M-PCD) technique which senses changes in sample conductivity as carriers recombine following excitation by a laser pulse, has been used to determine the minority carrier recombination lifetime from the decay rate of carriers in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers. Decay times varying from 60 ns to 500 ns have been measured, with the decay increasing with thickness. Device simulations show that I-V characteristics of pin diodes fabricated with these epitaxial layers are compatible with the observed decay times.