If you’re looking for battery power for one of your projects, you may consider a “18650 battery shield” – going for just above $2 on Aliexpress or eBay – for powering Arduino boards, Espressif ESP8266 or ESP32 boards, or any board that can be powered by 5V up to 2A via USB or headers, or by 3V up to 1A via headers.
Specifications listed on eBay/Aliexpress:
- Power Input – 5 to 8V via micro USB port up to 0.5A charging
- Power Output
- 5V via Type A USB port
- 3V up to 1A via 3x 2-pin header
- 5V up to 2A via 3x 2-pin headers
- Misc – 1 switch control USB output, LED for charging status (green = full, red = charging)
- Battery protection (Over-charge or Over-discharge)
- Dimensions – 9.8 x 2.9 cm
You’ll need to add your own 18650 battery, and be careful about polarity while installing it, since putting it in the wrong direction would destroy the charging chip. Some sellers also stuff “Raspberry Pi” keyword in the product title, and they often do this for search engine optimization (SEO), but at least some people have shown it to work with a Raspberry Pi board too. It’s unclear whether it can act as a basic UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) without status. Has anybody tried?
Thanks to Harley for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
