Our Beginning | Story | About

Our Beginning: The Power to Save Lives

We Care Solar was co-founded by a husband-wife team—obstetrician Dr. Laura Stachel and solar innovator Hal Aronson.

As a graduate student at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, Dr. Stachel began researching maternal mortality; specifically, why more than 280,000 women around the globe were dying each year in pregnancy and childbirth and nearly one million newborns were not surviving their first day of life. While conducting research in Northern Nigerian hospitals, Dr. Stachel observed midwives and doctors working in darkness. With daily blackouts, hospitals became incapacitated.

The lack of reliable electricity was a critical barrier to life-saving services.

Dr. Stachel watched health workers as they struggled by kerosene lanterns or candlelight, unable to adequately examine or treat patients, start intravenous lines, provide blood transfusions, or help women in need of critical care. Cesarean sections were canceled or delayed until daybreak. The emergency communication systems failed. Newborns could not be carefully examined or resuscitated if necessary. Patients were turned away at night. Women and newborns were dying because the hospital lacked reliable power.

To address this critical lack of energy, Dr. Stachel and her husband, Hal Aronson, created a compact solar kit for Nigerian health workers. They immediately used this suitcase-sized solar electric system to facilitate around-the-clock obstetric care. As word spread of our clean power solution, requests for “Solar Suitcases” came from other health facilities in Nigeria and beyond.

In 2010, Hal and Laura met Brent Moellenberg

At the time, Brent was a volunteer with Engineers Without Borders, who is now We Care Solar’s Director of Engineering. Brent began developing a refined version of the technology. The design that emerged—compact, durable, and purpose-built—became known as the We Care Solar Suitcase®. Our award-winning Solar Suitcases have provided surgical-grade lighting, 12VDC charging, and medical devices that enable access to safer care for thousands of mothers and newborns each year.

Since its founding, We Care Solar has grown into a global leader in healthcare equity, sustainability, and solar education. Our work is anchored in two cornerstone programs: Light Every Birth and Solar Solutionaries®.

Through Light Every Birth, we partner with governments, health systems, and local organizations to equip maternal health facilities with solar electricity—ensuring that healthcare workers have the light and power they need to provide safe, reliable care for mothers and newborns, day and night.

Our Solar Solutionaries® STEM education program provides hands-on STEM learning experiences that equip students, particularly girls and young women in the U.S. and Africa, to explore renewable energy, build technical skills, and become leaders in the clean energy movement.

Together, these programs reflect We Care Solar’s mission to equip communities with innovative clean energy solutions and programs that promote health, education, and economic opportunity.