Like a mini solar-powered home, a to-be-released tent from Eddie Bauer offers a sun-soaking array on top of its roof and outlet plugs inside.
You let the panel passively absorb light all day. Then when you need a device recharged the tent offers an outlet to plug in gadgets like iPhones, GPS units, and cameras.
Eddie Bauer just released photos of the tent. It’s a Goal Zero collaboration. The company built a triangle array unit made to mate with the tent.
The panel is a monocrystalline type with output of 18 watts. Eddie Bauer built attachment points on the tent to connect the panel onto the top and keep it there no matter the wind or weather.
Wires come from the panel inside the tent. There it’ll plug directly into the Goal Zero Sherpa 50 or the Yeti line of power packs. This is where the power is stored. You access it to charge phones, GPS units, and more from USB, a 12V port, and other interfaces on the power pack.
The tent, called the Power Katabatic, is a four-season build that’s 92 inches tall. It has 36 sq. feet of space inside and weighs about 8 pounds.
Modeled off Eddie Bauer’s successful Katabatic model this power-ready version costs $499. But that apparently does not include the solar upgrade.
Eddie Bauer reveals that a pocket inside the tent was made to fit the Goal Zero Sherpa 50 power pack. You get solar electricity from the panel on top and store it for use in the Sherpa unit.
Goal Zero sells its Sherpa alone for about $199. Add that to the tent cost ($499) and we’re seeing that the Power Katabatic will cost a pretty penny. But for easy access to electricity in the outdoors the price of this slick-looking integration might be worth every volt.
—Stephen Regenold
