Electronic – Getting a higher voltage from a battery than specified

batteriespower supplyvoltage

This may be a totally stupid question, but say I have a battery that supplies power at 7.5 V. Is there any way to boost its voltage to provide 9 V?

I know you can step down voltages in many ways (i.e. transformers, voltage regulators, voltage divider circuits), and I know that step-up transformers exist. However, any solution I have found to increase the voltage output seems expensive. I know I could just wire batteries in parallel/series to get what I want, but I am wondering what my options are for a single battery plus whatever else is needed (except another battery) to achieve what I want.

Best Answer

As m.Alin suggested, you could you boost regulators. Look at the following example from LTC

LTC Selection matrix

You can input your input and output parameters and regulator suggestions will be provided.

Choose the best one that suits your need.

Here is a schematic of a boost regulator, one of the cheapest regulator chosen from the list.

Reference Design

Another power products manufacturer is TI. You can use their webbench (online software) to adjust lot of parameters and choose the best regulator for your needs. TI products may be cheaper than LTC.

TI

Edit: If your requirement is one off only, then you may go with Jippie's suggestion and look for a ready built boost regulator. Pay special attention to the wattage as some of the cheap modules do not include a heatsink. They expect the user to add a heatsink for prolonged operation.

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