Adafruit PowerBoost 500 Basic - 5V USB Boost @ 500mA from 1.8V+

by Adafruit

PowerBoost is the perfect power supply for your portable project! This little DC/DC boost converter module can run from 1.8V batteries or higher, and convert that voltage to 5.2V DC for running your 5V projects.

The output is tweaked to be 5.2V instead of a straight-up 5.0V so that there's a little bit of 'headroom' long cables, high draw, the addition of a diode on the output if you wish, etc. The 5.2V is safe for all 5V-powered electronics like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or Beagle Bone while preventing icky brown-outs during high current draw because of USB cable resistance. 

The PowerBoost 500 has at the heart a  TPS61090 boost converter from TI . This boost converter chip has some really nice extras such as low battery detection, 2A internal switch, synchronous conversion, excellent efficiency, and 700KHz high-frequency operation. Check out these specs!

  • Synchronous operation means you can disconnect the output completely by connecting the ENable pin to ground. This will completely turn off the output
  • 2A internal switch (~2.5A peak limiting) means you can get 500mA+ from as low as 1.8V,750mA+ from 2 NiMH or Alkaline batteries, and at least 1000mA from a 3.7V LiPoly/LiIon battery or 3 NiMH/Alkalines.
  • Low battery indicator LED lights up red when the voltage dips below 3.2V, optimized for the most common usage of LiPo/LiIon battery usage
  • On-board 500mA charge-rate 'Apple/iOS' data resistors. Solder in the included USB connector and you can plug in any iPhone or iPod for 500mA charge rate. Not suggested for iPad (which really needs 1A charge rate).
  • Full breakout for battery in, control pins and power out
  • 90%+ operating efficiency in most cases (see datasheet for efficiency graphs), and low quiescent current: 5mA when enabled and power LED is on, 20uA when disabled (power and low batt LED are off)

Great for powering your robot, Arduino project, single-board-computer such as Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone!

Each order comes with one fully assembled and tested PCB and a loose USB A jack.

If you are powering your project from USB, solder the USB A jack in (a 3-minute soldering task). If you would like to use a terminal block, you'll need to pick up a 3.5mm 2pin block and solder to the output spot where the USB jack would go. Or don't solder anything in for a more compact power pack.