Maria Telkes

A pioneer in the field of solar energy, Dr. Maria Telkes, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2012, became intrigued with solar energy while she was in college. Born and educated in Hungary, she built her first chemistry laboratory when she was 10 years old. The solar still she invented saved thousands of lives during World War II, enabling downed airmen and sailors to distill fresh water from the salt water of the ocean. A scaled up version of her distillation device was used to supplement water supplies in the Virgin Islands. Her solar heating system was used in the Dover Sun House and she was also involved with the Carlisle House; homes built to demonstrate the use of solar energy for domestic energy systems. Dr. Telkes was the first recipient of the Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Achievement Award. She said “Sunlight will be used as a source of energy sooner or later … Why wait?” The chapter also provides a discussion of the challenges to the electric grid from the utilization of solar energy.