(S5E11) The women who powered the sun before it was cool

0:00The solar panels we designed today, the storage systems we optimize, the megawatts we calculate, they all sit on foundations built decades ago. Some of those foundations were laid by women, whose names most of us never learned. This is Ogami Station, a podcast by Rated Power. Twice a month, we dive into the trends, tools and stories shaping the renewable world. Let's plug into the future of energy. Welcome back to Ogami Station, Rated Power's podcast on Renewable Energy. Today's episode is different. We're recording this around international women's day and we wanted to dedicate the episode to women who helped shape science, energy and technology and whose voices were often quieter in the official narrative than their impact deserved. And to explore that, I'm joined by Pascal, product marketing manager at Rated Power. Hi, Angie. I really hope our listeners were enjoyed today's episode as it's a bit different than our usual topics. That's right. I hope so too. This isn't just a historical deep dive. It's about understanding the energy transition more fully. And I want to start with

1:03someone we've mentioned before, years ago, when Ogami Station was still in Spanish. We talked about her with Martha Palencia Leffer from the podcast Mujeres Lila. And today, in English, for a broader audience, it feels bright to return to her history with more depth. I'm talking about Maria telcos. If someone listening has never heard of Maria telcos before, which statistically would make sense and is very possible, who was she? So let's start from the beginning. Maria telcos was born in Budapest in 1900. From a young age, she was very fascinated by the idea that sunlight could power civilization, just to add some context here. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cole dominated the industry. And oil as well was rapidly expanding. Electricity grids were still developing. I'm talking seriously about solar as a primary energy source sounded very futuristic.

2:06I would say almost unrealistic. As if she was like dreaming about it, but she wasn't just dreaming about it, right? She even trained for it. Exactly. She earned a PhD in physical chemistry and became a university professor. And later, she emigrated to the United States, where she could pursue applied research more freely. Early in her career, she demonstrated extraordinary technical capacity. And one of her very first devices was a photoelectric instrument that was capable of recording brain waves, which I think we can agree is remarkable for the 20s and 30s. And by the 1934, the New York Times had already recognized her as one of the most influential women in American science, which tells us that she was visible. She was respected and productive in her lifetime. Very much so. Then she focused almost entirely on solar energy, the conversion of solar energy

3:11and storage. She worked at the MIT around the 40s as a researcher in solar energy. Her goal was very clear. Capture solar radiation, store it efficiently, and then use it to replace fossil fuels. This was long before climate change was a public concern. Long before all crisis, she was already thinking decades ahead of her time, I would say. I think really this is admirable. I really admire in general people who think ahead or generations ahead, like Orwell or Jules Verne. While we focus on decolonization by 2050, Maria was always already thinking on that scale in the 40s, right? Yes. She actually invented one of the first thermoelectric generators. She developed solar heating systems. She also designed a solar oven that is still used and off grid communities all over the world. Over her career, she registered I think more than

4:1620 patents. Wow, that's an impressive 20 patents. In mid-century science, that's a serious output. One of her most impactful inventions came during World War II. It was a portable solar water distiller. It was foldable lightweight and capable of converting sea water into drinkable water using only solar heat. It became part of military survival kits and back then saved countless lives. It was later on mass produced after that period. So solar technology, saved pilots, stranded at sea in the 40s, thanks to her. First of all, it's like renewable saving lives in the 40s and second of all in the 40s. That's much earlier than me or anyone, I think most people can imagine when we think about renewables, right? Definitely. Now, I want to spend time on the Dover Sunhouse because I read about it and it feels like it's one of those almost mythical projects. What was exactly it? Okay, so back in 1948,

5:23Maria Tejquez collaborated with Architect Eleanor Raymond and the philanthropist Amelia Peabody to build a fully solar-heated house in Dover, Massachusetts. So imagine three women leading a cutting-edge energy project back in the 40s. Love it. The house actually used large south-facing glass panels to collect solar heat. And inside the walls, they installed containers filled with global salt, which could absorb heat during the day and release it slowly at night. It was essentially an early thermal storage battery integrated into architecture. That's sophisticated architecture, sophisticated engineering even. And it actually, it worked. So the house maintained livable indoor temperatures during cold new England winters,

6:23just using storage solar heat. However, I have to mention here that oil prices dropped significantly after World War II and fossil fuels were cheap and abundant, which actually led to a weaker institutional support for solar research. So the project didn't really scale. And here's something I've always wondered, does the house still exist? It stood for decades, but it was demolished, unfortunately, sometime after 2010. And a new house was built on the site, and it includes conventional solar panels. Okay, so there is something, I think poetic about it. The original experiment is gone. It didn't succeed, but the principles survived, right? Yeah, that's true. So, Telka's story connects us to a much broader scientific landscape. Liesmeitner contributed to nuclear fission theory, but wasn't included in the Nobel Prize awarded to Otto Hahn. Rosalind Franklin's x-ray diffraction images were

7:28fundamental to identifying the structure of DNA. And Hedilamar co-invented frequency hopping communication, which underpins Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Grace Hopper developed early programming compliers. Then Stephanie Kvalek invented Kevlar. June Almeida identified the first human coronavariors strain in the 60s. Long list, these contributions span physics, computing, chemistry, and medicine. And they actually reveal something important. Women have always been present and scientific revolutions, and their participation wasn't rare. But their recognition sometimes was. That's very true. Sometimes still is. Let's move into present day numbers. Globally, women represent approximately 30 percent of the STEM workforce. In engineering roles, the percentage often falls between 15 and 20 percent. In renewable energy, women account for about 32 percent

8:30of the workforce, sorry, according to Irene, and fossil fuel industries sit closer to 22 percent. That gap suggests renewables are slightly more balanced, but parity is still distant as we were saying. And when you look at leadership roles within energy companies, women often represent less than 15 percent of executives. I mean, imagine that. In venture capital decision-making positions, the figure is around only 12 percent. And female founded startups receive roughly 2 to 3 percent of total global venture capital funding. Crazy. It is. And those numbers influence which technology scale, which ideas receive backing, and which founders are perceived as credible, actually. Now, let's speak about entrepreneurship in climate tech. Let's speak frankly about it. Access to funding remains one of the most significant barriers. What patterns are we seeing?

9:33So female founders, they often face more risk-focused questioning during their pitch processes. And investment committees, still largely ruled by males, may unconsciously gravitate towards founders who resemble previous successes. So there's also the social pressure part. And women frequently carry a disproportionate chair of caregiving responsibilities, as we know. Even as parental leave policies are evolving, I would say the cultured expectations shift very slowly. But anyways, so balancing the leadership with the family expectation, it requires strong support systems. And in this case, networks, they matter enormously. And mentorship also matters. So seeing someone like you succeed in the same sector, it definitely changes psychological barriers.

10:37Oh yeah, definitely. And the increasing the number of women in investment decision roles would definitely shift criteria over time. Definitely. The energy transition is projected to generate millions of jobs globally by 2030, excluding or representing half of the population in STEM and leadership roles narrows the available talent pool. Research consistently shows that diverse leadership teams correlate with stronger financial performance and higher innovation capacity. And climate challenges are complex systems problems. They require interdisciplinary thinking, thinking, social awareness, and long-term orientation. Energy poverty also disproportionately affects women in many regions, including women and decision-making changes. It changes a lot how solutions are designed and deployed. When we look back at Maria Telkes and the Doverson House, we see technical brilliance and long-term

11:37vision. The house itself no longer stands as we talked about, but solar heating, thermal storage, and distributed energy systems are core elements of today's transition. So stories shape ambition when history, when history includes women scientists, engineers, and founders, the future talent pipeline expands. International Women's Day offers a moment to recalibrate narratives, to ensure that when we talk about innovation, we speak about all of its architects. I agree, Angie. And the energy transition isn't only about infrastructure. It's actually about imagination and future thinking. Thank you Pascal for this wonderful conversation. I loved it. Thank you, Angie. I believe it was an impactful conversation. And at least hopefully can set or plant a seed for future conversations as well. Yes, I agree. To everyone listening, let's continue building an energy future that reflects the full spectrum of people who power it. See you next time on Ogami Station.