Mária Telkes, an American-Hungarian biophysicist and inventor worked on solar energy advancements. She immigrated to the US in 1925 in order to pursue a career in biophysics.
She became an American citizen in 1937 and started working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1939 to create practical solar energy uses. While a student at MIT, Telkes created a technique for storing solar energy using sodium sulfate.
She and architect Eleanor Raymond created the first solar-heated house in the 1940s by storing energy every day. In 1953, they created a child-safe solar oven for people who lived in various latitudes. She devised a technique for farmers to dry their crops.
In 1952, Telkes became the first recipient of the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award. She received a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Sciences Building Research Advisory Board in 1977. Telkes registered more than 20 patents.
What Is The Net Worth Of Maria Telkes?
Maria is one of the richest and most well-known physicists, with a net worth of $1 billion, claims reports. After receiving her doctorate in physical chemistry in her native Hungary, she moved to the US and conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Net Worth | $1 billion |
Date of Birth | December 12, 1900 |
Source of Income | Physicist |
Date of Death | December 2, 1995, Budapest, Hungary |
House | Living In Own House. |
Have A Look At The Early Life Of Maria Telkes
Maria Telkes was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1900, where she was raised and went to both elementary and high school. She continued her schooling at Eotvos Lorand University, where she earned both a B.A. in physical chemistry (1920) and a Ph.D. (1924) before completing her studies there.
Telkes visited a relative who was the Hungarian consul in Cleveland, Ohio when she emigrated to the United States in 1924. While working there, she started an investigation into the energy produced by living things for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Telkes did the study while employed at the foundation and developed a photoelectric device that could capture brain waves under the direction of George Washington Crile. Together, they wrote the book Phenomenon of Life.
Telkes then began working as a biophysicist at Westinghouse. She asked whether there were any jobs available in the brand-new solar energy program at MIT. After being hired, she worked there from 1939 till 1953.
At the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion, Telkes began his career in 1969. She began researching solar cells that generate electricity. She helped build the first house that utilized solar energy for both heating and electricity in 1971.
In 1981, she collaborated with the US Department of Energy to plan and build Carlisle House, the first house powered only by solar energy, in Carlisle, Massachusetts. She gave a speech at the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in New York in 1964.
Did Maria Telkes Have A Husband?
Telkes never wed or had children, which was unusual for a woman in her day, even a prominent academic and scientist. Over the course of her seven decades in America, she only made one trip back to Hungary, where her immediate family still lived, and that was when she was 95. She passed away while there.
How Did Maria Telkes Affect The Global Community?
While working for the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, Maria Telkes developed one of her most notable inventions—a solar distiller that could vaporize saltwater and recondense it into drinkable water.

How Did Maria Telkes Contribute To The Advancement of Electricity?
With Telkes’ invention, solar energy could be collected, stored, and released by fans as needed. She developed a method of chemically storing solar energy by crystallizing a sodium sulfate solution as part of her energy storage strategy.
Why Google Honors Maria Telkes?
The American-Hungarian scientist Maria Telkes is well known for her research on solar energy systems. Telkes, who died in 1995, invented the solar distiller as well as the first household solar heating system. On Monday, Google changed to a doodle in 12 different countries in her honor.
I hope you like this article. If you like this, please share it with your friends and comment in the comment section. Bookmark our website for more latest updates.
Stay tuned to Lee Daily for more updates.