Mária Telkes

Mária Telkes
Mária Telkes
Born (1900-12-12)12 December 1900
Died 2 December 1995(1995-12-02) (aged 94)
Nationality Hungary
Known for Thermoelectricity
Awards National Inventors Hall of Fame
Scientific career
Fields Physics
Institutions Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Westinghouse, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, University of Delaware

Mária Telkes (December 12, 1900 – December 2, 1995) was a Hungarian-American scientist and inventor who worked on solar energy technologies.[1]

Early life and education

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Telkes moved from Hungary to the United States after completing her Ph.D. in physical chemistry.

Career

Telkes worked as a biophysicist in the United States; and, from 1939 to 1953, she was involved in solar energy research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Telkes is known for creating the first thermoelectric power generator in 1947, designing the first solar heating system for the Dover Sun House in Dover, Massachusetts, (built entirely with solar heating, with the architect Eleanor Raymond[2][3] and the first thermoelectric refrigerator in 1953 using the principles of semiconductor thermoelectricity.

She was a prolific inventor of practical thermal devices, including a miniature desalination unit for use on lifeboats, which used solar power and condensation to collect potable solar still. The still saved the lives of airmen and sailors who would have been without water when abandoned at sea.[1]

One of her specialties were phase-change materials, including molten salts to store thermal energy. One of her materials of choice was Glauber's salt.

Telkes is considered one of the founders of solar thermal storage systems, earning her the nickname "the Sun Queen".[4] She moved to Texas in the 1970s and consulted with a variety of start-up solar companies, including Northrup Solar, which subsequently became ARCO Solar, and eventually BP Solar. She has a lot of schools named after here like, "Maria Telkes" in south Carolina, "telkes middle school" in San Francisco.Also Telkes Maria's high school" in Ohio

Awards

  • 1952 – Society of Women Engineers Award
  • 1977 – American Solar Energy Society, Charles Greeley Abbot Award
  • 2012 – Induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

References

  1. 1 2 "Maria Telkes". National Inventors Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Denzer, Anthony (2013). The Solar House: Pioneering Sustainable Design. Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0847840052. Archived from the original on 2013-07-26.
  3. ↑ Rooney, Anne. Solar Power. Gareth Stevens, Inc. (2008)
  4. ↑ Elizabeth H. Oakes (2007). "Maria Telkes". Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Infobase Publishing. p. 714. ISBN 978-1-4381-1882-6.
  • "Maria Telkes Resources". solarhousehistory.com.
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