Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Solar Suitcase

last updated Apr 25, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
WE CARE Solar
Legal Status: 
Private (unspecified)
Year Launched: 
2008
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor
Funders: 
Big Ideas @ Berkeley, Blum Center for Developing Economies, Everbright Sola, Health and Sustainability, The Bixby Center for Population, The MacArthur Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, Venture Strategies for Health and Development

Scale

Upscaling: 
WE CARE initially assembled Solar Suitcases for midwives in northern Nigerian maternal health clinics. As word of its innovation spread, We CARE received requests from clinics and health workers around the world, including medical relief teams in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
Summary: 

The WE CARE Solar Suitcase is an economical, easy-to-use portable power unit that provides health workers with highly efficient medical lighting and power for mobile communication, computers and medical devices. The WE CARE Solar Suitcase was originally designed to support timely and efficient emergency obstetric care, but can be used in a range of medical and humanitarian settings.

Program goals/rationale: 

Maternal mortality rates in Nigeria are among the highest in the world, with a ratio of 1100 maternal deaths occurring for every 100,000 live births. A large part of this is due to the fact that sporadic electricity impairs the operation of surgical wards, delivery wards, essential hospital equipment, and hospital communications. This compromises the ability of Nigerian health workers to provide safe, appropriate and timely medical care. Labor and delivery nurses cannot quickly notify on-call physicians of emergencies. Midwives and physicians are forced to make treatment decisions without the benefit of necessary diagnostic tests. Obstetric procedures and emergency surgeries are conducted under grossly suboptimal conditions, and can have tragic consequences

By equipping off-grid medical clinics with solar power for medical and surgical lighting, walkie-talkies and essential medical devices, WE CARE Solar facilitates timely and appropriate emergency care, reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality and improving the quality of care in Africa, Haiti and other regions.

Key program components: 

WE CARE Solar brings portable solar electric kits to clinics and small hospitals to power lighting, mobile communication and essential medical equipment for emergency obstetric care. The ‘solar suitcases’ are low-cost, easy-to-use, robust and reliable, enabling health care workers in low-resource areas to provide safe and prompt obstetric care. The "WE CARE Solar Suitcase" powers overhead LED lighting, charges cell phones or two-way radios, and includes LED headlamps that come with their own rechargeable batteries. These systems are designed to be user-friendly, robust, durable, and nearly maintenance-free. They can be reproduced and easily installed in existing hospitals and clinics that have unreliable/problematic power systems.

Key design features include:

  • Whole System Integration – The lighting appliances and power production components are delivered as one unit, designed for daily use.
  • Safety – The sealed batteries can safely be stored inside health facilities; the low-voltage DC system avoids shock hazard and includes overcurrent protection.
  • Low Maintenance – There are no fuses to replace, and no regular battery maintenance is required. Battery replacement is estimated to occur every 2 years.
  • Durability – Our high quality components are designed for longevity, even in harsh environments.
  • Simplicity – One switch turns on the system; another turns on lights and charges devices. The system is plug-and-play and can be installed without need for an experienced solar technician.
  • Expandability – The 15 amp modular system is designed for expansion and can accommodate up to 200 watts of solar panels and a 140 amp-hour sealed battery.
Program history: 

The first deployment of the Solar Suitcases occurred in June 2009. Now these systems have been introduced in fourteen countries. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we were asked to send solar suitcases to aid medical relief teams in tent cities and maternity clinics.

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