11:08 a.m., March 9, 2011----David E. Carlson, chief scientist and manager of future technology programs for BP Solar, will speak at 3 p.m., Wednesday, March 23, as part of the Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series sponsored by the University of Delaware Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

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Carlson will speak on the topic “Photovoltaics and its Potential Impact on Climate Change.”

The lecture will be held in Room 206 Kirkbride Hall with a reception to follow in the lobby of DuPont Hall.

The lecture will be available via webcast.

An abstract on the presentation notes that the only energy source that has the potential to replace fossil fuels and not adversely affect the environment is solar energy, and photovoltaic energy conversion appears to hold the most promise for securing low-cost, high-quality energy for the future.

The photovoltaics industry has been one of the world's fastest growing industries over the last decade with a compound annual growth rate of 46 percent.

Carlson invented the amorphous silicon solar cell in 1974 and was the first to demonstrate that hydrogenated amorphous silicon could be used to form a semiconductor junction. For this work, he received the Ross Coffin Purdy Award of the American Ceramic Society.

In 1983, he joined Solarex, which later merged to become part of BP Solar. He has received numerous awards for his pioneering work and leadership in photovoltaics, including the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Award, the Franklin Institute's Walton Clark Medal, the William R. Cherry Award, and the Karl Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit, which is presented given in honor of Karl Wolfgang Böer, a longtime University of Delaware faculty member, founder of UD's Institute of Energy Conversion and a distinguished scientist in the field of solar cells.