This is true. The lantern will not likely be in a backpack. It will be in a tent, or in a camper, or in a car boot, or in a cabin, or used at home for outside and emergency lighting. Only a very small percentage of users will ever carry it in a backpack.
The power bank makes it a one stop solution for power outage or camping use, especially when combined with a folding solar panel.
It is well worth it in my book, adds far more than it takes away. Grab 2 items (lamp and panel) and you are good to go for sustainable power and light, or leave the panel at home if it is just a weekend. Store USB cables in the solar panel pockets and/or in a carry case for the lantern.
this is the exact reason behind having a built in USB bank feature with the charging in feature. with a 10 or 15 watt solar panel it can keep your phone going and the darkness away.
I forgot to mention that the Active-Semi EA2813QY development module using the reference design is available from Mouser, if you wanted to evaluate it or build into a prototype. It costs about £50. It would also give a good start for PCB layout.
I would still like to have the power bank feature, even if I’m not likely to use it.
It’s not like it’s going to hurt anyone having it, realistically it’s also not going to drive up the price noticably compared to just a charging cicuit. Granted, it may complicate the driver firmware in case it needs to be configured from the MCU, but that’s a small price to pay for something useful that adds value to the light.
@KevinZA1988, thanks for speaking up. Your post revealed an accounting error on my part, actually two of them. I expect to get a pay cut as a result, but I am trying to make it up by editing my previous post where I double dipped your numbers.
Catching up to a missed post, Ilmatic you are number 923 on the interest list.
Many of the features desired by some members, and perhaps a small subset in some cases, drive up the price of the lantern. Although it may only be a dollar here or there they all add up and could perhaps raise the lantern price by upwards of 25% (just a swag here :money_mouth_face: ). The design has progressed from a fairly simple lantern to one that has many nice-to-have features but are they all needed or will even be used by the majority of people?
Just thinking out-loud so take it strictly as that :confounded:
What features are you speaking of?
USB power bank is the only one that could add costs because of additional parts; tint adjustment is mostly a firmware thing (aside from one additional wire, as I understand it); are there others?
, I have added you at number 924 on the interest list.