She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Mária Telkes

Engineering • Environmental Science

1900 – 1995 United States, Hungary

Pioneered solar thermal energy systems, including solar heating, thermal storage, desalination, and cooking

Overview Institutions
Mária Telkes

Overview

About Mária Telkes

Mária Telkes was a Hungarian-American scientist and inventor who pioneered practical uses of solar energy. She developed a solar-powered desalination device during the Second World War and later worked on thermal energy storage for the Dover Sun House, an experimental solar-heated home. She also designed solar cooking technologies and pursued methods for storing solar heat. Her innovations helped establish solar thermal engineering as a practical field.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Solar thermal energy systems

Pioneering work on solar heating, thermal storage, desalination and solar cooking.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1937

career

Becomes a U.S. citizen and joins Westinghouse

Telkes worked at Westinghouse on converting heat into electrical energy, extending her research into practical energy technologies.

1940

career

Joins MIT's Solar Energy Conversion Project

Telkes joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's solar-energy programme and focused increasingly on thermal storage and solar applications.

1947

invention

Develops a solar-powered distillation system

Telkes developed a portable solar still for producing fresh water from seawater, work associated with wartime and postwar survival technology.

1948

invention

Helps create the Dover Sun House

Working with architect Eleanor Raymond, Telkes designed the solar heating and chemical heat-storage system for the Dover Sun House in Massachusetts.

1953

invention

Develops a solar oven

Telkes developed a practical solar oven intended to cook food using concentrated sunlight without conventional fuel.

Places & Networks

Institutions

research institute

University of Delaware Institute of Energy Conversion

Newark , United States

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