Power bank is equipment that can provide portable power to charge the devices such as mobile phones, speakers, laptops which is having a USB interface. Due to people have to work and study at home in these day, they want a constant power supply to do their tasks online. But people fell in trouble, due to power failures. Therefore, power bank is a useful equipment due to constant power supply is supplied by power bank at a power failure. This is an equipment which students, employers want to buy. According to the necessity, capacity of the power bank should be decided before purchasing. The end of USB cord (of power bank) is connected into the wall adapter to charge the power bank. Purpose of a power bank is recharging battery-powered electronic devices.
History
The first power bank was invented by a Chinese company called Pisen in 2001. Two AA batteries were pieced together by a circuit in the original design. And also, its battery life was short and the power bank was bulky. Now compact designs of power bank are available with superior battery life.
Types of power bank in the market
- Universal power bank
- Battery phone case
- Solar-charged power bank
Universal power banks have different sizes and shapes. Photovoltaic panels are there in solar-charged power bank. A narrow device compatibility is there in battery phone case.
Brands of the best power banks
- Anker PowerCore 20100
- MAXOAK 50,000mAh power bank
- RAVPower 20,000mAh power bank
- Anker PowerCore II 10,000mAh power bank
- AUKEY Power Bank 20,000mAh
- Omni 20 USB-C Portable power bank
- iMuto 20,000mAh power bank
Advantages:
- Being a portable equipment.
- Comfortability.
- Being customizable. (There are colors and styles to choose)
- Price is affordable.
- Cheap.
- Can be recharged.
- Charging is quick.
- Can be recharged easily by connecting to a USB port.
- Being able to charge various devices such as laptops, smart phones, portable speakers, music player that operates on USB.
- Keeping phone alive in long journeys.
- Having multiple charging ports (up to 6 ports).
- Having an anti-scratch surface.
- High charging capacity.
- Being useful at a power failure.
Disadvantages:
- Overcharging the phone by using power bank can reduce the overall life of the phone and drain the phone’s battery.
- Difficult to carry power bank everywhere, when power bank is heavy or large.
- Overcharging can reduce the lifetime of power bank.
- Overcharging of a poor quality Lithium-ion power bank can lead to explosion.
Capacity, number of output, output specification are considered at selecting a power bank. A small space is enough for a power bank. Lithium polymer (LiPo) and Lithium Ion (Li-ion) are two types of batteries for power banks. Battery and a special circuit is there in a power bank. There are electrolytes and cathodes in Lithium-ion batteries. Because lithium-ion batteries have a liquid electrolyte, the shape of battery is limited to either cylindrical or rectangular shape. The liquid electrolyte is replaced with a plastic/ polymer electrolyte in lithium-ion-polymer batteries, and it is the next stage of lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, batteries of power bank have different sizes and shapes. There are lots of advantages of lithium-ion batteries. They are light and small. Those batteries can provide more energy than nickel-metal-hydride batteries. Those batteries operate in a wider temperature range, and recharging can be done before become fully discharged without happening a memory problem. But lithium-ion batteries are more expensive than rechargeable batteries (standard rechargeable batteries) because of the volatile nature of lithium. The battery of power bank can be replaced. If the voltage is wrong, the battery life of mobile phone is damaged. Therefore, branded and quality power bank should be bought. When power bank is used multiple times a day, performance of the battery is reduced with the time. While the smart phone is connected to a power bank, smart phone should not be used. Otherwise battery life will be reduced with the temperature increase. According to chemical composition and battery cell quality, the power bank which has lithium-polymer batteries, lose its capacity over time. If the battery cell is charged, the phone should be kept in flight mode. Then energy can be saved at charging a phone from a power bank.
The power bank’s capacity is determined by mAh (milliampere hour). Power bank can be placed on a rough surface and power bank is durable, due to having an anti-scratch surface. Due to the competition among manufacturers, different manufacturers produce different types of power banks.
Importance of Power banks, during COVID 19 pandemic
Nowadays people have to work and study at home through online platforms, due to the nature of Corona virus and it is risky to expose to the outside. Electricity is essential to operate the devices such as laptop, mobile phones. People use online platforms such as Zoom, Google meet at working and studying, and those electric devices is helpful to access online platforms. If power supply is interrupted, work or lesson can’t be continued. Power banks can overcome this issue. Using a power bank is really helpful in these days, due to important meetings, online exams, interviews, lectures, classes are often conducted in online platforms. But people always have to keep in mind to recharge the power bank, after using its stored electric power for several times. Students use mobile phones at doing some online quizzes due to computers can’t be operated, when electricity is not supplied (at a power failure). Even though mobile phones/ smart phones are used, battery level can be reduced. Then there should be a way to recharge it. That is why, power bank is important. When there is not a socket nearby at an emergency, power bank is helpful. It is also helpful in long journeys.
Conclusion:
Power bank that is equipment that can provide portable power to charge the electric devices (which are having a USB interface), are useful at a situation such as power failures, online meetings, long journey. And also, branded and quality power banks should be purchased whenever possible.
By: W.I.M.Withanage
Author’s bio
I am Iresha Mihirani who is interested in writing and drawing. I create short stories, articles, scientific fictions, essays, cartoons, and doodles in my leisure time. I write to give a happiness to readers and to express a valuable idea or a message to society.
