Arrow Electronics and We Care Solar Win 2019 Edison Award for Innovative Solar Suitcase Technology
CENTENNIAL, Colo., February 11, 2019 /3BL Media/ – Arrow Electronics and nonprofit We Care Solar have won a 2019 Edison Award for Solar Suitcase 3.0, a portable solar-powered battery unit that can bring electricity to a remote, off-grid medical clinic throughout the night.
The Edison Awards, named after Thomas Alva Edison, recognizes and honors the world’s best innovators and innovations. The Edison Awards will announce gold, silver and bronze award winners at the Edison Awards Gala held Thursday, April 4, 2019 in New York City.
Worldwide, more than one billion people live without electricity – and 300,000 women die in childbirth, often turned away from health centers that lack power. We Care Solar is a nonprofit that has teamed with Arrow to help vulnerable mothers and infants who live in these remote areas of the world.
Arrow offered to help improve the company’s groundbreaking Solar Suitcase, a sun-powered, waterproof, portable system that includes medical-quality lighting, a fetal monitor, a battery charger, headlamps and cell phone charging for remote health workers to make emergency referrals.
To provide We Care Solar with a lifesaving technology solution, Arrow helped create a lower cost, more powerful design that is now easier to operate, manufacture at scale, install and operate. Each unit is expected to work for at least five years with minimal maintenance. Extensive field testing is continuing in Uganda, and expanded manufacturing in the United States is planned for 2019.
“Having the light changed the lives of the health workers and the patients. It changed everything,” said Maimuna Muye, a Nigerian midwife.
All nominations were reviewed by the Edison Awards Steering Committee and the final ballot sent to an independent judging panel. The judging panel was comprised of more than 3,000 professionals from the fields of product development, design, engineering, science, marketing and education, including professional organizations representing a wide variety of industries and disciplines.
About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW) guides innovation forward for over 200,000 leading technology manufacturers and service providers. With 2018 sales of $30 billion, Arrow develops technology solutions that improve business and daily life. Learn more at fiveyearsout.com.
About We Care Solar
We Care Solar is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization that promotes safe motherhood and reduces maternal mortality in developing regions by providing health workers with reliable lighting, mobile communication, and medical devices using solar electricity. We Care Solar has served 1.8 million mothers and infants and 3,500 health centers and emergency response teams in 27 developing nations. Learn more at www.wecaresolar.org
About Edison Awards
Established in 1987, the Edison Awards is a program conducted by Edison Universe, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to fostering future innovators. For more information about the Edison Awards, please visit www.edisonawards.com
