Page 35 - ISES SWC50

Dr Maria Telkes (1900-1995)

Country: United States
Year Started Research: 1948
Title of Research: Dover Sun House
University: MIT
Still Active in Research: No

Dr. Mária Telkes) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist, scientist and inventor who worked on solar energy
technologies. She is considered one of the founders of solar thermal storage systems, earning her the nickname “the
Sun Queen”. Dr Telkes was a prolific inventor of practical thermal devices, including a miniature desalination unit
(solar still) for use on lifeboats, which used solar power and condensation to collect potable water. The still saved
the lives of airmen and sailors who would have been without water when abandoned at sea. 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. 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. In 1948, Dr Telkes
started working on the Dover Sun House; she teamed up with architect Eleanor Raymond, with the project financed
by philanthropist and sculptor Amelia Peabody. The system was designed so that a special salt would melt in the
sun, trap the heat and then release it once it cooled and hardened. The system worked with the sunlight passing
through glass windows, which would heat the air inside the glass. This heated air then passed through a metal
sheet into another air space. From there, fans moved the air to a storage compartment filled with the salt (sodium
sulfate). These compartments were in between the walls, heating the house as the salt cooled. More information
on Dr Maria Telke’s life and acheivements can be found on the website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mária_Telkes

Derek Wrigley

Country: UK/ Australia
Year Started Research: 1948
Title of Research: Solar-improved design of
Australian housing
University: University of New South Wales then ANU (1957)
Still Active in Research: No

Derek F. Wrigley, Dip. Architecture, (Mancs), ARIBA, LFAIA, LFDIA; OAM was born 1924 and educated at
Manchester Colleges of Art and Design and College of Science and Technology. He moved from the UK to Australia
in 1946 and in 1958 initiated the (now) Design Institute of Australia, and the Design Council of Australia when at
the Australian National University (ANU). His research was Solar-improved design of Australian housing and he
initiated Australia’s first tertiary study of Building Science in 1949 at the School of Architecture, University of New
South Wales, emphasising the practical utilisation of solar energy. Derek joined the ANU Design Unit in 1957 and
became University Architect in 1962. Additionally, from 1948 Derek designed many houses incorporating specific
solar energy utilisation principles. In 1990, he concentrated on retrofitting principles. Most houses in the colder
areas of Australia could only use solar energy to heat the north half the house. From 1999 to 2002 Derek was
Convenor of the ANB Buildings & Technology Committee, within the Nature and Society Forum. Between 1991
and 2018 he initiated ~20 retrofitted systems to his Canberra house, most of which were documented in his 2004
book “Making your home sustainable”. From 2001 Derek pioneered the use of reflectors which make use of the
‘wasted’ sunlight which flows over to the southern side of the roof - with nine repeat commissions around Canberra.
Two research reflectors were built to suit the developer-built house he bought in 1984. The first was a reflector
of ~12m2 which rotated round a vertical column to reflect approximately 2.5 MWh/year of winter sunlight and heat
into the south-facing dining room. The second version was horizontally pivoted with 8m2 polished stainless steel
on one side and photovoltaic panels on the reverse. In total the house is capable of producing ~8 kWh/day of usable
heat and electricity.

ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions | 17