At room temperature. both the visible photoluminescence excitation spectra and the non-radiative recombination excitation spectra deduced from photothermal deflection spectroscopy on free-standing p(-) porous silicon layers art shown to yield an exponential edge encompassing the emission region. The width of the corresponding absorption tail is in the 150-300 meV range. These results an compared with those obtained on hydrogenated amorphous SiON disordered semiconductors with an optical gap around 2.8 eV where the weaker but visible emission peak lies below the exponential absorption tail also observed in these materials. Finally, the coincidence of the slopes of these exponential edges with both the activation energy of the lifetime and its dependence on the emission energy above room temperature is discussed.