David E. Carlson was an American physicist who invented thin film, amorphous silicon based, photovoltaic solar cells.
Having participated in the ROTC Program at RPI, Carlson entered the Army upon graduation, and saw combat in Pleiku, Vietnam.
In 1970, Carlson joined RCA Laboratories as a member of the technical staff and worked in the areas of ion motion in glasses and insulators, glow-discharge deposition of films, and thin-film photovoltaic devices.
This development in solar energy led to world-wide efforts in applied and fundamental research of amorphous silicon-based technologies.
In 1982 an RCA group led by A. Catalano demonstrated an amorphous silicon solar cell in excess of the 10% conversion efficiency considered a requirement for commercial success.