This is the best time of the year on BLF.
Too bad solar panels don’t work backwards as LEDs, as they should according to simple theory.
Updates in the OP !
This is going to be good !
I probably dove in deeper in this one than i originally planned due to the needed work, parts, and designing required to build this intricate & functional project to get this to work, but i will follow it through and complete it, hopefully in time. and as did the last years project, i intend on making this a useful build and plan on using it in the field.
Way too cool!
Wow! - this is starting to take shape nicely.
Shock and awe!! This will be sooo cool! 
Looks amazing!
Can you get something to make the heat work the generator to work the charger? A steam engine if you have a lathe, or some sort of thermoelectric generator if you can get oner. Do you have an old Peltier picnic cooler?
self-sustaining? is that like perpetual motion, perpetual motion or HHO? all in a steam punk format, cool!
As this is in the Hand-made category, i am avoiding all automated machines to build any part of it. One of the big plans for this is to use the heat & light to generate power to charge the removable Flashlight, and able to charge a phone, powerbank, etc.
As mentioned in the OP, i plan on using Solar Cells in a unique way on this Light/lantern to harness the light & heat from the gas part, and possibly using a Thermal Electric Generator, (a couple Peltier junction plates i salvaged from old discarded Koolatron coolers i found in a dumpster at my work.
The big difference in this project and most anything that is “steampunk” is that most items and contraptions are purely cosmetic and don’t really do anything but look cool and for display purposes only, This project here i’m building is to be very, very functional, have many capabilities & actual field uses. The self-sustaining part will be its ability to generate power & light from even natural sources, without any fuels.
I guess I didn’t read all of it. Both photovoltaic and Peltier diodes. Very nice indeed.
It seems sort of steam punk to me too, just a better job of it than having parts with no uses. Of course not as steam punk as if it used a steam engine. I was told my virtual reality light house was steam punk, even though it had no modern elements.
Will it run on lard oil?
With the 237-type fuel generator i will use with the addition of the pre-heater cup, it will be able to run on almost any flammable fuel oils & liquids. lard oil may be to thick for the generator needle to flow it, but anythings possible.
In lighthouses, they put a small tank over the Argand lamp to preheat the lard oil so it would flow like whale oil.
very true. 
The pre-heater cup on the generator does the same technique to the heavier fuel oils, ( kerosene, Diesel, etc/) so it can flow thinner & atomize easier at the nozzle to mix with air & burn in the mantle.
I agree, especially if your on holidays far away from home.
More Updates today, August,01,2015 in the OP above:
Another minor update, August,5,2015 in OP. (Multi-fuel Lantern section of the build coming to life.)