In the News

2026

GYAC solar suitcases installed in Kenya making ‘big impact’

Nearly 30 young scholars at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center in Indian River County assembled the solar suitcases as part of GYAC’s Day of Service. Electricity in the off-grid school buildings means more time for studying, and also more safety.

-July 17, 2026

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2025

Sci High students empowered through learning to build solar generators

A new program at the New Orleans Charter Math and Science High School is designed to give students experience working on projects that have real-world applications.

-November 10, 2025

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Off-grid solar suitcases delivered to more than 10,000 health clinics in sub-Saharan Africa

Solar-integrated suitcases bring critical backup power and lighting to health clinics for women giving birth. The kits were provided by Berkeley, California-based We Care Solar.

-October 28, 2025

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We Share Solar Lights Up Students in Minnesota and Beyond

Program combines STEM with lessons about the real-world impact of solar power in developing countries.

-October 17, 2025

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‘Solar suitcases’ bring safe lighting to more than 10,000 clinics across sub-Saharan Africa

The off-grid electric systems provide power for medical lights, fetal monitors, and other devices – helping more women give birth safely.

-October 24, 2025

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Solar Clinics in Malawi: How Off-Grid Power is Saving Lives

At more than 100 rural health centers, We Care Solar and the Judith Neilson Foundation support safer deliveries for at least 80,000 women annually.

-August 15, 2025

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Teachers Gain Reliable Tools at Solar Energy Workshop

The Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School teacher said that’s why she was especially thrilled to learn about how to teach about solar energy during a workshop Monday and Tuesday at Minnesota State University. The Solar Suitcase Program by We Care Solar brought in 24 teachers from around the state for what Moeller calls an “awesome” experience.

-August 13, 2025

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In Nigeria and FCTA Launches Solar Revolution in Maternity Care

As part of effort to eliminate power-related risks in childbirth across the nation’s capital, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, has unveiled the “Light Every Birth”, LEB, initiative at the Kuje.

-June 2, 2025

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STEM Students Build Generators to Address Disasters

New Orleans high school students are demonstrating STEM learning at its best as they help debut a new model to strengthen U.S. communities after natural disasters. This first-of-its-kind initiative is a groundbreaking approach to how communities with energy challenges may increase local community resilience.

-May 6, 2025

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GYAC Students Power Hearts, Minds and Off-Grid Schools in Kenya Thanks to We Share Solar and The Learning Alliance

GYAC students quickly jumped into the hands-on science and engineering activity, building 10 We Share Solar Suitcase kits. Each kit includes everything needed to build a stand-alone 12-volt DC solar power system. Now assembled, the solar suitcases will be sent to Kenya to assist schools in rural communities lacking reliable electricity. In addition to the solar suitcases, students in grades K – 8 prepared solar-themed science project boards, which explored the science of solar lights, stoves, burners, cars, and more.

-April 7, 2025

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Vero Beach Students Light Up Kenyan Schools with Solar Power

The hands-on project is part of We Care Solar’s Solar Solutionary Program, a STEM initiative that blends science, technology, engineering, and math with a mission to spark curiosity and purpose in young minds. The students won’t just learn how solar panels and wiring work—they’ll see their efforts transform lives half a world away.

-March 18, 2025

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Sharing Solar: Middle School Students Build Solar Suitcases to Provide Power to Schools in Kenya

A set of solar generators built by a team of Newark Academy Middle School students is bringing light to schools and community centers in northern Kenya, allowing hundreds of children to study at night for the first time.

-March 11, 2025

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We Care Solar Brings Light to CCS Academies

What’s missing from this picture?” This was the question Laura Stachel, MD, MPH, DrPH, asked students from Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy (SJPIICA) and Trinity Catholic Academy (TCA) who gathered at the Dorchester Lower Mills campus last month. One eager student had a simple answer: “Light!”

-March 2025

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Yampah Mountain High School students help bring reliable electricity to rural Tanzania

Yampah Mountain High School partnered with We Care Solar last week to help rural Tanzanian schools gain access to reliable electricity.

-February 3, 2025

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We Care Solar: Ensuring Safer Births with Solar Energy

We Care Solar addresses a critical social need: the lack of reliable electricity in rural health centers, particularly in energy-scarce communities across sub-Saharan Africa.

-January 29, 2025

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Marshall Middle School 7th graders build solar suitcases to help refugees in Uganda

Throughout the week of Jan. 13, seventh graders at the Rockford middle school are building 12-volt DC We Care Solar Suitcases, funded by Cultivate Power.

-January 15, 2025

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2024

Effingham Daily News, Ill. – North Clay students light the way for students in Uganda

North Clay is one of 13 schools in the state participating in the We Care Solar program. Launched for the first time in Illinois this year, the program offers a unique science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational experience that combines solar STEM education with real-world impact to engage and inspire students to become the next generation of “Solar Solutionaries.”

-December 24, 2024

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Illinois students bring light to more than 12K refugees

Launched for the first time in Illinois this year, the program offers science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational experience that combines solar STEM education with real-world impact.

-December 13, 2024

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In Nigeria and Zimbabwe, PHCs Leverage Renewable Energy to Improve Maternal Healthcare

Through its Light Every Birth initiative, We Care Solar has installed around 580 solar suitcases in labour wards across 560 frontline PHCs, reaching a catchment population of five million women in the FCT, Kebbi and Bauchi states.

-December 10, 2024

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NBC News – Minnesota students build portable solar panel kits for students in Africa

Students from Stewartville Middle School in Minnesota are working to build portable solar panel kits that can fit in a suitcase and pack enough power to light a home for a week. They are sending them to students in Sub-Saharan Africa, many who live in refugee camps.

-September 21, 2024

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KIMT News – Stewartville Middle School students prepare solar powered suitcases for a trip overseas

The solar suitcases are being sent to east Africa, where they will provide light and power for children.

-September 20, 2024

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KIMT News – Teachers Learn About Solar Education

The suitcases are from We Care Solar and give students and teachers a chance to learn and teach solar energy.

-August 6, 2024

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Revolutionizing Maternal Health Care With Solar Solutions

Energy access remains dire, with millions unable to access reliable, affordable, unlimited access across the region. Despite achievements in a growing number of people accessing energy and electricity, approximately 53% of the population remains without electricity.

-April 26, 2024

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Healthcare After Dark

Imagine giving birth by the light of flashlight or imagine a doctor tending to a birth with no light except the headlamp they’re wearing. Across Nigeria, many health care facilities do not have access to electricity and so can’t provide critical care after the sun goes down, making this scenario unfortunately commonplace.

-April 22, 2024

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We Care Solar Suitcase: Providing Clean Energy for Safe Childbirth

The We Care Solar Suitcase® provides solar-powered medical lighting and power for communication and medical devices to last mile health facilities. With documented success in multiple countries, this innovation is one approach to providing clean, renewable energy and achieving universal electrification to healthcare facilities.

-April 18, 2024

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2023

Solar suitcases, first made in Berkeley backyard, shine light on maternal health around the world

A Berkeley obstetrician’s nonprofit aims to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants in regions without reliable electricity. She was just awarded a national prize from AARP.

-October 10, 2023

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AARP Announces 2024 Purpose Prize® Award Winner: Laura Stachel

No woman should die giving life. Our specialized, portable Solar Suitcases bring electricity to obstetric facilities in low-income countries that lack nighttime lighting, because we believe every woman has the right to deliver safely in a well-lit health center. In the past 13 years, we’ve deployed 8,400 systems to these health facilities, improving obstetric care for millions and saving lives.

-September 26, 2023

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Africa: Trailblazers Support Women to Boost Clean Energy Workforce

Support for skills and training is an essential step to ensuring clean and affordable energy for all. Solar panels, mini-grids, modern cookstoves and other proven technologies can bring power to even the most remote communities – but this won’t happen without trained engineers, salespeople, and many others playing crucial supporting roles.

Electrifying health facilities is another area where progress is held back by skills shortages. NGO We Care Solar has a long history of tackling gender equality by electrifying off-grid maternity services. Its work includes projects in Sierra Leone, where more than 3,000 lives are lost each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. There, a We Care Solar scheme aimed at boosting the number of women technicians includes hands-on ‘labs’ passing on practical skills, and supervised sessions delivering real installations.

-August 15, 2023

Solar Suitcases for Safe Delivery

Imagine trying to perform a C-section, or conduct a delivery, in a hospital with no light.

For hundreds of thousands of health workers, this is the reality they face each night. Close to 300,000 women and one million newborns (primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia) die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth each year. Hemorrhage, infection, eclampsia, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion cause the majority of obstetric deaths— many of which could be prevented with access to timely emergency obstetric care.

–July 19, 2023

Bringing Portable Solar Power to the Classroom

“Solar energy is the future,” said eighth-grade teacher Craig Marais from San Jacinto Leadership Academy in Riverside County. His engineering club just finished building solar suitcases as part of a hands-on educational program sponsored in part by Edison International.

–July 6, 2023

Minnesota students help provide solar power to others in East Africa

An elective class at Carondelet Catholic School in South Minneapolis just became even more rewarding than these students and their middle school science teacher imagined.

-May 21, 2023

African innovators lead in shortlists for Ashden Awards for cutting edge climate solutions

The shortlists for the 2023 Ashden Awards have been announced and African organisations are again spearheading global climate solutions.

The Ashden Awards shortlist highlights 32 inclusive climate solutions to power our future and regenerate our world. 75% of the organisations shortlisted from the Global South are from Africa. They range from a scheme bringing clean energy to 2 million people in Nigeria, to work raising the incomes of rainforest communities in Cameroon.

-April 21, 2023

Meet the Women Solving Critical Gaps in Maternal Health Care

At a teaching hospital in Nigeria, Executive Director and Founder of We Care Solar, Laura Stachel MD, DrPH experienced the third delay firsthand while conducting research there as a graduate student. Although mothers and birthing people are essential to a thriving society, they often do not receive the care they require or deserve. One way of visualizing this inability to receive adequate care is through the Three Delays Model. The Three Delays Model holds that there are three steps in maternal health care where care is delayed.

-January 23, 2023

2022

WE CARE SOLAR – 1000+ Solar Suitcase Installations Milestone Reached in Zimbabwe

Until recently, having continuous lighting for childbirth in Zimbabwe was not assured. Most health facilities in the country had sporadic or no power. Mothers were routinely told to pack candles as part of their birthing kits. The situation changed when We Care Solar implemented a national solar energy program in Zimbabwe to “Light Every Birth.” We Care Solar is a U.S. based nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring every woman can deliver safely in a health facility equipped with power.

-December 30, 2022

The Energy Show exhibition explores the design possibilities of new solar technologies

Presenting projects by designers, researchers and artists world-wide, the exhibition hopes to open a door into a post-fossil fuel future. According to designer and curator Matylda Kryzykowski, it “tells a story of humans’ relationship with the sun”, highlighting how it has shaped our lives.

-September 13, 2022

World Humanitarian Day: how Zayed Sustainability Prize winners are saving lives in Africa

A past winner of the Zayed Sustainability Prize has used the Dh2.2 million prize money to help save thousands of African women and children.We Care Solar has provided solar suitcases to maternity wards in hospitals that are cut off from the national electricity grid in developing countries. Since winning the prize in 2019, the company has been able to expand its mission from Uganda to other nations such as Zimbabwe and Nepal.

– August 22, 2022

Rosemount High School to get its own solar array

The school is waiting for approval for its Solar Rewards application from Xcel Energy. The installation of the array is likely to take place in spring 2023, according to Assistant Principal Calvin Keasling.

– July 6, 2022

The Global Impact of Physics by Inquiry

The course is Physics by Inquiry, a four-credit lab course developed by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. Using universal design, the curriculum encourages students to learn the fundamental concepts of physics by collaborating to perform experiments, then develop theories about how things work. In other words, students work like scientists.

– July 6, 2022

Hopkins West Students Build We Share Solar Suitcases for Kenyan Schools: WCCO CBS Minnesota news

We love this WCCO CBS Minnesota news story from our #dayofservice workshop at Hopkins West Jr. High School in Minnetonka on Friday.

– May 2, 2022

Hillary Clinton Speaks To Nonprofit Head Seeking To End Preventable Childbirth Deaths

On International Women’s Day at the Forbes 30/50 Summit, former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton offered mentoring to Laura Stachel, cofounder of We Care Solar, advising her on her organization that intends to end preventable deaths during childbirth.

– March 9, 2022

Women’s week: Solar energy has the power to equip

Through a powerful collaboration with We Care Solar, an international organization that utilizes solar power to impact maternal health, Ignite deployed solar kits in 60 health clinics in rural Sierra Leone. The kits provide medical teams with light and vital medical equipment that is set to change how they treat women during pregnancy and labour.

– March 8, 2022

Women’s Day 2022: Ignite Power’s all-women team electrified 60 Health Clinics in Sierra Leone

With gender equality being at the core of its operations throughout Africa, Ignite Power is impacting millions of women, customers and employees (⅓ of the company’s workforce) alike. This week, the company is pleased to announce the conclusion of an extensive electrification project in Sierra Leone, providing 60 remote clinics and health facilities with lightning and electricity, with all installations and end-user training done by an all-women team. The project was executed for We Care Solar, a global organization working to electrify last-mile health clinics and reduce maternal mortality in developing regions.

– March 7, 2022

Lighting the way to safer births in Mozambique

The Light For Every Birth project reunited PWRDF with the Mozambican health organization EHALE, and We Care Solar in California to bring solar electricity to 50 healthcare clinics.

– January 10, 2022

2021

Licht, Strom und Know-how für Afrika

Die Ärztin Laura Stachel entwickelte mit ihrem Mann Hal Aronson den “Solar Suitcase” für stromlose Gegenden

– December 1, 2021

High school students from around the Valley create ‘Solar Suitcases’ to send across the world

For the last two weeks, groups of 10th and 11th graders from around the Valley have been learning and working in the engineering lab on the James Madison University campus to provide power to a school for refugees in Kenya.

– July 22, 2021

How Solar Power is Reducing Maternal Mortality Rates in Zimbabwe

A renewable energy innovation has improved obstetric care to last-mile communities across Zimbabwe, successfully supporting over 180,000 deliveries per year since its introduction.

– July 14, 2021

Rotary club of Kiwatule donates a solar system to Kyango Health Center

Rotary club through its initiative of supporting communities donated a solar system to Kyango health III, one of the units under Masaka Diocese to promote the safety of mothers during child birth.

– July 5, 2021

Licht, Strom und Know-how für Afrika

Die Ärztin Laura Stachel entwickelte mit ihrem Mann Hal Aronson den “Solar Suitcase” für stromlose Gegenden

– July 1, 2021

Holy Family students build solar suitcases for refugee settlement

Students and teachers from Holy Family Catholic High School partnered with the We Care Solar Solutionary Program to build two solar suitcases.

– June 16, 2021

Committed Podcast: Lighting Up the World

Laura Stachel and her husband Hal Aronson save lives every single day through their work providing solar power to hospitals around the world. Neither of them ever could have done it on their own.

– June 9, 2021

The Giver Of Light: How Dr. Laura Stachel Is Fighting To Ensure No Mother Gives Birth In The Dark

“Imagine what it’s like to be without electricity: It means that midwives were conducting surgeries by kerosene lantern, starting IVs by candlelight. It meant that surgeons were rushing to finish operations before the sun went down,” she says.

– June 2, 2021

Let There be Light – in Childbirth

A PWRDF-supported program is set to expand power and possibilities in rural Mozambique. In the first phase, 30 health centres were selected to receive the solar suitcases, which are manufactured by California-based We Care Solar. Working with a local partner Association of Community Health (EHALE), PWRDF and We Care Solar helped train 12 people in the installation, maintenance and use of the devices.

– April 1, 2021

Local Students Help Provide Power for Students in Kenya

Many students don’t get to see the real-world application of what they learn in school until much later in life, but for the high school students in Mission College’s Summer STEM program, their work now has a global impact.

– March 25, 2021

Engaging Students in STEM Through a Solutionary Approach

One example of a solutionary approach is the We Care Solar Program, which trains teachers in an experiential STEM education program linking practical engineering knowledge about solar energy with inspiring humanitarian service through the building and sharing of solar electric systems called We Share Solar Suitcases.

– January/February, 2021

Powering and Supporting Healthcare Systems in Uganda

Airlink, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), Qatar Airways, Flexport.org, and We Care Solar join forces to bring reliable sources of solar power to medical facilities in Uganda.

– January 29, 2021

2020

We Care Solar: Combating Energy Poverty

The Solar Suitcases designed by Dr. Stachel and Hal Aronson contain a solar electrical system that fits inside a yellow carry-on suitcase. The system contains solar panels, a charge controller, a battery, four LED medical lights, two headlamps and phone charging equipment. They also include a fetal Doppler which is an instrument used to measure the fetal heartbeat.

– December 1, 2020

Inside the scramble for solar financing as frontline public health clinics confront COVID

Frontline health clinics are first responders in the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 as they were in the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Liberia and Sierra Leone and as they are every year in fighting malaria, HIV, cholera and so much more. Even without an immediate emergency, frontline clinics play a vital role in screening patients, administering vaccines and helping women deliver babies.

– October 7, 2020

Is it Time for Health Facilities to Go Green?

In Africa, many facilities lack reliable electricity and often rely on kerosene lanterns and diesel-fueled generators in order to provide life-saving care, according to Dr. Laura Stachel, an obstetrician-gynecologist and executive director of We Care Solar. These produce carbon dioxide and black carbon, both of which can negatively impact health as well as the environment.

– September 29, 2020

Future of Global Healthcare Podcast

Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation presents the ‘Future of Global Healthcare’ in association with The Conduit Episode 3: Dr. Laura Stachel

– September 20, 2020

Packing light

We Care Solar designs and delivers pre-wired compact Solar Suitcases for maternal health care facilities in the developing world. This all-in-one solar+storage solution for childbirth evolved from a doctoral student’s research project, and is being scaled worldwide to ensure that no woman gives birth in the dark.

– September 8, 2020

Hamlin College of Midwives graduate transforms a struggling health centre

Aster was determined to turn the centre around. Her efforts included boosting hygiene and sanitation, and promoting the use of the service to local women. The provision of a Solar Suitcase marked another great addition to the centre.

– June 16, 2020

Coronavirus is not the only global health crisis. Just ask ½ billion people

Universal healthcare and universal access to electricity are both global development goals. While hospitals in developed countries struggle to allocate medical resources to a population strained by COVID-19, health facilities in developing economies cope every day with infrastructure and energy access challenges.

Co-authored by We Care Solar’s Dr. Laura Stachel – March 20, 2020

Maternity wards in Acholi powered with solar systems

The installation of solar systems in 122 health centres has created relief to the midwives and the expectant mothers from delivering in darkness.

US NGO Installs Solar Panels in Maternity Wards in Zimbabwe

Staff and patients celebrated at Beatrice Government Hospital this week after a U.S. charity known as We Care Solar installed solar power in the medical center’s labor and maternity wards.

– February 14, 2020

How The Zayed Sustainable Prize Makes A Difference

4 Interviews –January 12, 2020

The Zayed Sustainability Prize: its impact a decade on

The prize recognizes social initiatives that positively impact millions of people around the world.

– January 12, 2020

2019

WE CARE SOLAR named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Inventions of 2019

The We Care Solar Suitcase® was selected in the Social Good category for delivering life-saving portable power to mothers and babies in last-mile health clinics.

– November 22, 2019

Middle school introduces students to climate and energy science with hands-on project

On a recent Thursday, Katie Small’s eighth-grade science class at St. Louis Park Middle School was hard at work. The students were gathered around a series of small blue plastic suitcases, up to their elbows in wires and assembly instructions.

– November 13, 2019

North Minneapolis students make solar-powered briefcase generators to help kids in Africa

A class project at a north Minneapolis high school is empowering students to make a difference on the other side of the globe.

– November 6, 2019

In Zimbabwe, power outages force women to deliver by candlelight

Experts cite dire conditions at maternity wards amid load shedding. Can solar power technology help?

– November 5, 2019

36th Cabinet Meeting Decision

Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of Zimbabwe and We Care Solar on the Expansion of the Solar Suitcase Programme in Zimbabwe as proposed by the Minister of Health and Child Care.

– October 16, 2019

Doctor Brings ‘Solar Suitcases’ to ‘Light Every Birth’ in Hospitals Without Steady Electricity

Dr. Laura Stachel’s work “revolutionizes safety in childbirth” across the globe.

– September 19, 2019

Minnesota students to build solar suitcases to light up classrooms in Kenya’s refugee camp

For hundreds of thousands of students living on the outskirts of Kenya’s refugee camp, learning stops at sunset. After-school programs, parent-teacher conferences, evening and night classes don’t exist.

But soon that will change, thanks to Wells Fargo and We Care Solar, a national program that aims to end energy poverty in developing countries.

– August 16, 2019

In Case of Emergency, Grab a Solar Suitcase

A look at the innovations in the We Care Solar Solar Suitcase 3.0, designed in partnership with Arrow Electronics.

— April 12, 2019

Here are 3 Sustainable Innovations in Africa You Should Know About

The We Care Solar Solar Suitcase and two other technologies are featured.

— April 10, 2019

Lifesaving Technology Solution Wins 2019 Edison Award

Arrow Electronics and We Care Solar have won the 2019 Edison Award for Social Innovation for development of Solar Suitcase 3.0.

— April 9, 2019

50 Game-Changing Innovations in Robotics, Home Technology and Medicine

The We Care Solar Solar Suitcase 3.0 by We Care Solar and Arrow Electronics was voted a Gold Award winner by the Edison Awards, which are given each year to innovations in a variety of categories.

— April 8, 2019

Arrow Electronics and We Care Solar Co-operate on Innovative Solar Suitcase Technology

Arrow worked with We Care Solar to create a lower cost, more powerful design of the We Care Solar Suitcase.

— April 8, 2019

Skilled Birth Transformed Through use of Solar Suitcases

“We no longer worry about power outages. We can use our solar light and portable torch which we charge with the solar suitcase. During power cuts, we can also charge our phones to call an ambulance – this means that there is a quicker response time and lives are being saved as a result.”

– March 14, 2019

We Care Solar wins Zayed Sustainability Prize in Health Category

We Care Solar, the US-based provider of efficient solar energy systems to health facilities in off-grid regions, has won the 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize in Health for its compact dependable Solar Suitcase for maternal health.

—Jan. 15, 2019

2018

When Pain Derailed This Doctor’s Career, She Started a $5 Million Nonprofit That Saves Pregnant Women’s Lives Around the World

This biographical profile of Dr. Laura Stachel includes a touching video. — Oct. 23, 2018

On the Attack against Climate Change: Lighting Births and Helping the Planet

The New York Times included We Care Solar in its coverage of 10 organizations that are working to confront the challenges of climate change. The We Care Solar Suitcase provides electricity for safe maternal and newborn medical care and also replaces carbon dioxide-producing diesel generators and kerosene lamps. —Sept. 21, 2018

Sustainable Energy for Safe Childbirth | Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Nepal

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change/Momentum for Change featured an article and a video about We Care Solar’s life-saving work in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Nepal.

2017

The Power of Collaboration: Lighting Up Rural Schools in Kenya

Imagine that you are studying for one of the most important exams of your life. Your score will determine if you go on to secondary school and whether you can receive financial assistance. Now picture trying to study for this exam night after night….in darkness. If you have a working flashlight with batteries or candles, consider yourself fortunate. If not, your day ends the moment the sun goes down.

– December 6, 2017

How Solar-Powered Suitcases are Helping Babies in Nep al

BBC News Innovators Series travels to Nepal to see how We Care Solar Suitcases are helping to reduce maternal mortality in challenging conditions after the 2015 earthquake.

– October 31, 2017

Seven Women Leading the Way in Solar Energy and Why They’re Successful

The US Green Chamber of Commerce names We Care Solar’s Dr. Laura Stachel as one of seven groundbreaking women leaders in the solar energy field.

– October 4, 2017

2017 Drucker Prize Awarded to We Care Solar

The Drucker Prize judges recognized We Care Solar’s impressive results, including the provision of life-saving labor and delivery procedures to nearly one million mothers and infants who would not otherwise have received them.

– September 29, 2017

Solar Suitcases Sent to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Relief by Ricky Martin and Leonardo DiCaprio

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the Ricky Martin Foundation, along with Music for Relief, have donated 35 solar suitcases to Puerto Rico.

– September 29, 2017

How Solar Energy is Helping Brighten Childbirth in Rural Zimbabwe

Solar power is making childbirth safer and less expensive for women.

– September 26, 2017

Maternal Health Gets a New Boost in Liberia

We Care Solar Suitcases have improved conditions in clinics and maternal waiting rooms across Liberia.

– July 17, 2017

UN Sustainable Development Goals: Saving Lives Through Solar Innovation

An interview with We Care Solar co-founder and executive director, Dr Laura Stachel, about her work, her career path, and how We Care Solar is contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

– July 12, 2017

UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

We Care Solar co-founder and executive director, Dr Laura Stachel, is featured as a lead discussant before the United Nations Economic and Social Council, on the topic of eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions through promoting sustainable development, expanding opportunities and addressing related challenges.

– July 10, 2017

We Care Solar and Power Up Gambia Make Renewable Energy a Lifesaver

Gambia Radio and Television Services explores how We Care Solar and Power Up Gambia are providing sustainable power supplies for medical clinics in the Gambia.

– July 8, 2017

Model Christy Turlington Burns Aims to Make Childbirth Safe All Over the World

ABC News Nightline profiles Christy Turlington Burns and her nonprofit Every Mother Counts’ partnership with We Care Solar to provide solar suitcases to rural health centers in Tanzania. The energy harnessed in the suitcases is used to power medical lighting, mobile communication and essential medical devices.

– June 27, 2017

We Care Solar Selected as a Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer 2017

We Care Solar has been recognized by Bloomberg New Energy Finance as an agent of change in the field of clean energy technology and business transformation.

– April 24, 2017

Hayward students invention will help power schools in Africa

It’s the result of a long class project for these Hayward seventh graders that’s proving to be a lesson in science and a lesson in life.

– February 10, 2017

Three Social Welfare Initiatives Vie for Dh5.51 Million Prize

Zayed Future Energy Prize has selected three non-profit innovators for its 2017 Award. We Care Solar is proud to be among this esteemed group of finalists and will be at the awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on January 16th 2017

– January 6, 2017

2016

Winners of Zayed Future Energy Prize 2016 Selected

Finalists announced for the Zayed Future Energy Prize

– December 19, 2016

Lighting a School for Deaf Children in Kenya

We Care Solar conducted a Solar Suitcase building workshop with high school students, teachers and Wells Fargo London employees in April 2016. Five of the portable solar systems built by students were deployed to Kenya to provide light and power at a school for deaf and disabled children.

– September 28, 2016

These High-Tech Suitcases Shine a Light on Preventable Deaths

Hear about the life-saving work of We Care Solar from staff, board members, and health workers who use the technology first hand.

– September 12, 2016

How the Solar Suitcase makes Childbirth Safer

BBC visits the Mphunzi Health Center in Malawi and learns how instrumental the Solar Suitcase is to health workers.

– March 22, 2016.

2015

Light After Dark: Cal State East Bay’s Solar Suitcase project changes lives, saves lives

“It might take a little elbow grease,” Environmental Studies Professor Karina Garbesi calls out from the head of the classroom. It’s mid-August and she’s standing in front of a bright blue box surrounded by a riot of wires, ports and circuits that must each find its connection. Eventually, they will make up the guts of a USB port, electrical outlet, charging station and switchbox, concealed by a white panel on top. Once paired with a solar panel, the contents of the box (a suitcase actually) are designed to provide light and power in schools and orphanages a half a world away.

– Fall, 2015

We Care Solar wins $1M United Nations Energy Grant

Berkeley’s School of Public Health reports on We Care Solar’s winning of a $1M grant from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

– September 17, 2015

Maternal Health in Developing Countries: Engineering approaches and future outlook

In an article on engineering solutions to maternal health around the world, IEEE’s magazine highlights We Care Solar’s contributions.

– January 24, 2015

10 simple gadgets that equip women around the world

The We Care Solar Suitcase tops Tech Republic’s list of ten items helping women around the world.

– January 21, 2015

The 1,000th Solar Suitcase: Scaling Innovation out of the University

The Blum Center at UC Berkeley reports on the importance of partnership and sustainability as We Care Solar Suitcases reach more than 1,000 health centers around the world.

– January, 2015

2014

The science of compassion: When kids try to save the world

An elementary school in Florida helps assemble solar suitcases for Uganda while learning about the environment and the lives of students elsewhere. – December 31, 2014

Tildenville Elementary makes solar panels for Ugandans

American youth learn about solar energy and compassion as they assemble Solar Suitcases for schools and orphanages in countries with unreliable electricity. – December 25, 2014

Saved by a Solar Suitcase

The Wall Street Journal tells the story of the Solar Suitcase and how it’s being used to save lives around the world. – August 8, 2014

Midwives Test the Solar Suitcase: We Don’t Have to Fear Delivering At Night Anymore

UNICEF reports on the impact of solar suitcases in Uganda, through interviews of the midwives using them. – July 3, 2014

The Boys and Girls Club of Seaside assemble ‘solar suitcases’ for an orphanage in Uganda.

Students learn about solar while assembling cases for use in Uganda as part of a summer program at a California Boys and Girls club. – June 27, 2014

U.N. sustainable energy campaign focuses on women and children’s health

We Care Solar’s prominent role in the UN’s program to provide sustainable energy to improve the health of women and children is highlighted. – June 6, 2014

How a Yellow Suitcase Saves Moms and Babies

In this Huffington Post blog article, Elizabeth Gore of the UN Foundation illustrates the benefits of the Solar Suitcase and UN the programs helping to fund it. – May 12, 2014

The Solar Suitcase that’s Saving Lives

The Daily Good highlights the problems the Solar Suitcase addresses. – May 9, 2014

The Solar Suitcase: Sharing Big Ideas At SwitchPoint

In this radio piece on the SwitchPoint conference, the solar suitcase and Laura Stachel are used as an example of a new wave of innovators using technology to solve old problems. – April 24, 2014

Pregnant in Malawi: A Photo Essay

We Care Solar’s partner Every Mother Counts presents a photo essay of pregnant Malawians, all taken at clinics where the Solar Suitcase was being installed. – April 18, 2014

Policy: Bring sustainable energy to the developing world

In this comment piece from the science journal Nature, the argument for increased access to basic electricity sources is made, with the Solar Suitcase used as a prime example of how a small system can have a large impact. – April 16, 2014

Where Are They Now? Big Ideas Winners’ Innovations Take Off

Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest looks back on previous winners, exploring We Care Solar’s incredible growth since winning first in 2008 and again in 2010. – April 1, 2014

Top 10 Women of Solar Energy

The Energy Collective features Dr. Laura Stachel as one of the top 10 women in solar energy. – February 22, 2014.

5 Brilliant Social Innovators You’ve Never Heard Of, Until Now

We’re delighted that Forbes has highlighted Laura Stachel as one of “5 Brilliant Social Innovators You’ve Never Heard Of, Until Now.”- February 17, 2014.

Harnessing Africa’s untapped solar energy potential for health

The WHO explains how Africa’s abundant solar power potential can provide a boost to maternal healthcare and highlights We Care Solar. – February 3, 2014.

CNN Hero Laura Stachel in the Philippines

The student newspaper of Manila’s International School describes Dr. Laura Stachel’s touchdown in the Philippines and the many challenges healthcare providers are facing without light. – January 24, 2014.

Philippine Heroes of the Night

Dr. Laura Stachel, co-founder of We Care Solar, and Robim Lim, CPM, talk about the devastation left by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and the hope just a little electricity can provide. – January 15, 2014.

Sunshine in a suitcase

The International Society for Optics and Photonics featured We Care Solar in this month’s SPIE magazine. – January 2, 2014.

2013

CNN Hero and Filipino businessman on dismal conditions in delivering babies post-Yolanda

We Care Solar joins forces with Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines to bring light to the many health care workers left in the dark after Typhoon Yolanda. – December 30, 2013.

Innovate or die: what it takes to transform global health

Ken Banks provides tips for social entrepreneurs in the developing world, and discusses the genesis of We Care Solar. – December 9, 2013.

For Mothers and Babies, Light Means Life

Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, the UN Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, describes the effects of energy poverty on women, reflecting on his own childhood experience in Sierra Leone. – November 14, 2013.

Shining a Light on Healthcare Heroes

Dr. Laura Stachel, co-founder of We Care Solar, honors the many health workers who toil tirelessly through the night – and how solar power can help them ensure better outcomes for their patients. – November 11, 2013.

A Different Health Care Debate: How Electrifying Medical Clinics Saves Lives and Supports Women’s and Children’s Health

Dr. Richenda Van Leeuwen, the Executive Director of the Energy and Climate Energy Access Practitioner network, describes how access to electricity can help reduce maternal mortality. – November 6, 2013.

In Boston, Women (and Men) Gather Today to Celebrate Clean Energy Achievements

At the C3E Women in Clean Energy Symposium, the potential of energy to support women in the developing world is front and center. – September 19, 2013.

Solar Suitcases make midwives feel comfortable conducting deliveries at night

UNICEF announces the delivery of fifty Solar Suitcases to Northeast Uganda to improve rural maternal health care. – September 11, 2013.

Solar Powered Innovations Beyond Lighting & Charging

SunFunder highlights the Solar Suitcase in a post about solar solutions for fighting global poverty. – June 28th, 2013.

WHO Director-General addresses World Hospital Congress

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, asserts that technology and innovation will triumph over the myriad new challenges facing medicine in the developing world, but cautions that it won’t be easy. – June 18th, 2013.

Solar Suitcases for Haitian Orphanages

Dr. Jane Aronson of Worldwide Orphans discusses her work partnering with We Care Solar to supply Solar Suitcases to orphanages in Haiti. – June 12th, 2013.

Reducing Maternal Mortality Through Solar Light

The MacArthur Foundation shares a video prepared by Sierra Leone UNFPA. – May 14th, 2013.

Surgery Lit By a Cell Phone?

Laura Stachel tells the story of delivering a Solar Suitcase to a Malawi clinic while discussing the stark differences between maternal heath care in Malawi and the United States. – May 10, 2013.

Green Tech Exposes Students To Portable Lighting System

Students in Sacramento learn how to build solar suitcases through a partnership between We Share Solar and Green Tech. – April 8th, 2013.

Saving Lives with a Solar Suitcase

The Scientific American Plugged In blog discusses the Solar Suitcase history and many applications. – March 26th, 3013.

Solar Suitcase’s Role in Pathfinder’s Maternal Health Work

Lucy Shillingi, Pathfinder International’s Country Rep in Uganda, is interviewed about her work with the solar suitcase. – March 15th, 2013.

Health Centers in Kegezi Sub Region Get a Boost for Safe Motherhood

We Care Solar is teaming up with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) in Uganda to light up 200 health centers as part of project “Saving Lives At Birth” (SLAB). March 12th, 2013.

Lighting the Way for Safe Childbirth

CNN continues their coverage of We Care Solar in an article telling some of the stories of how the Solar Suitcases have been used. – March 1, 2013.

Solar Suitcase Saving Moms, Babies During Childbirth

CNN’s Christie O’Reilly tells the story of Laura Stachel’s trip to Nigeria that inspired the Solar Suitcase as part of the CNN Hero coverage – Feb 28, 2013.

Power to the people: Berkeley couple brings light to clinics in developing nations

jWeekly traces the origins of both We Care Solar and of Laura Stachel and Hal Aronson, detailing their motivations for creating the first suitcase and the hundreds that have followed. – January 24, 2013.

Bay Area Students to build Solar Suitcases to power schools in Africa

We Care Solar marks the MLK Day of Service by partnering with the Tech Museum and 50 bay area students and their families to build solar suitcases for Sierra Leone. – January 15, 2013.

2012

Dr. Paula Dhanda to shine light on women’s care in Nepal

The Lake County Record Bee describes Dr. Paula Dhanda’s training by We Care Solar to be a Solar Ambassador and her upcoming trip to Nepal to install two Solar Suitcases. – October 9, 2012.

Portable Solar Panels Bring Light, Save Lives in Developing World

The California Report’s State of Heath blog details the recently completed Women Ambassadors training, focusing on the pediatrician Juliette Alyek, who traveled all the way from Uganda to attend. – October 3, 2012.

A Solar Suitcase To Treat Medical Emergencies In The Dark

Ariel Schwartz of Co.Exist discusses the history of the solar suitcase and some of its latest impacts in the field. – June 6, 2012.

Solar suitcase supplies electricity to developing-world hospitals

SmartPlanet by CBS has put together a video showing in detail the latest version of the solar suitcase while describing the latest work of We Care Solar. – July 5, 2012.

Solar Suitcase Aids Doctors in Developing World

Voice of America discusses maternal mortality in Kano, Nigera – and We Care Solar’s efforts to combat it. – May 25, 2012.

Genius Happens When You Plan Something Else

Ken Banks, Founder of kiwanja.net and creater of FrontlineSMS discusses the process of innovation, using We Care Solar as an example. – May 10, 2012.

Viewers Donate

PBS News Hour’s followup article on the overwhelming response from viewers after their April 4th interview with Hal and Laura aired – April 19, 2012.

Solar Power in a Suitcase

Podcast – Standford Social Innovation Review’s Sheela Sethuraman interviews Hal and Laura about their efforts to combat maternal mortality – April 18, 2012.

From a Berkeley garage, a solar initiative that saves lives

Tracey Taylor from Berkeleyside tells the tale of We Care Solar and the accidental entrepreneurs that founded it – April 16, 2012.

Savings Lives with Solar Power

PBS News Hour’s Spencer Michaels interviewed Laura and Hal at their home and describes what We Care Solar is all about and where we’re going – April 4, 2012.

Solar Suitcase Lowers Maternal Mortality

The Huffington Post discussing We Care Solar’s work in Nigeria and elsewhere – March 9, 2012.

A box full of light and life

CBC Radio article and podcast: Host Rick MacInnes-Rae interviews Laura Stachel in Sierra Leone for Dispatches – February 29, 2012.

Shine a Light: The suitcase that’s saving women’s lives

Laura Stachel’s “Mobile Message” from Nigeria to National Geographic’s NewsWatch site talks about the impact of a simple solar solution on emergency obstetrics. – January 12, 2012.

2011

WE CARE Solar Wins Humanitarian Technology Award

Chris Meehan highlights WE CARE Solar’s recent win of the Nokia Health Tech Award in San Jose – October 28, 2011

Meet the Winners of This Year’s Tech Humanitarian’s Awards

Harry McKracken reports on the winners of the 2011 Tech Awards, including WE CARE Solar – Oct 21, 2011

OB/GYN’s solar suitcase saves lives in poor nations

James Temple interviewed WE CARE Solar founders Laura Stachel and Hal Aronson in this terrific article about our organization – Oct 16, 11

‘Our Bodies, Ourselves’ taught women about sexuality and reproductive health

Laura Stachel was interviewed for this article about the impact of the 1970’s classic women’s health book entitled “Our Bodies Ourselves” – October 4, 2011

Can Solar Power System in a Suitcase Save Mothers’ Lives?

Senior Editor, Alexis Madrigal, interviewed Hal Aronson and Laura Stachel at the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival. Here’s his article on the Solar Suitcase – July 2011

Inspirational Women of 2011

Elle magazine writes about Laura Stachel and gives WE CARE Solar a 2011 “Green Award” in their July 2011 issue.

CNN Innovation Blog

Kiwanja founder Ken Banks wrote a commentary about unlikely innovators, featuring Laura Stachel and WE CARE Solar in this CNN blog – June 15, 2011

The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator

Blog by Frontline SMS founder Ken Banks on”The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator,”where he talks about meeting Dr. Stachel – February 24, 2011

Shining a Light on Maternal Mortality

Christina Hernandez talks with Dr. Laura Stachel about WE CARE Solar-February 17, 2011

Voice of America

Voice of American featured WE CARE Solar in an article and radio show that played on NPR about our work to bring solar suitcases to Haiti and Africa.

2010

Psychology Today

“Laura Stachel: Giving Light and Life” by Carlin Flora – June 2010

Our Bodies Ourselves announces the 2010 Women’s Health Heroes Hall of Fame

Laura Stachel chosen as a 2010 Women’s Health Hero.

Social Entrepreneurs Bring Lessons to Silicon Valley

Story by Mike Cassidy of the San Jose Mercury, who interviewed Laura Stachel and other social entrepreneurs attending the 2010 Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University. Twenty innovators from around the globe came together for two weeks for an MBA “boot camp” to strategize how to bring their own projects to scale.