Adafruit MiniBoost 5V @ 100mA Charge Pump - AP3602A

This adorable little board will come in very handy whenever you need a small amount of 5V power. It's the size of a linear regulator, but it's actually a mini-booster! Input 3V on one side, and get 5V at up to 100mA supply on the other. Perfect for use with battery-powered projects with 2 or 3 Alkaline, or a single Lithium battery. For big projects, you may want one of our PowerBoost boards that can give you a honkin' 500mA-2A of current.

This booster uses a charge-pump topology, which makes it very compact and low cost. But it isn't as efficient as a inductor-based boost converter. Charge-pumps always double the incoming voltage, and then regulate down. So yeah, not as efficient. So ideal for when you aren't counting coulombs - or when your current draw isn't terribly high.

You get one fully assembled breakout with an AP3602A and components, and a small bit of header. Give 3-5VDC on the IN and ground pins. Then you'll have 5V on the OUT pin. The enable pin can be pulled low to disable the output.