I want to know if its possible to power PI zero w using 7805 voltage regulator. Max current rating of 7805 is 1A. What is the max consumption of PI zero W? Would it require more than 1A of current? I would be using a camera module also.

I have a 12 volt battery, so thought of using 7805 to power my pi zero W. I dont think 7805 can be used for PI 3 though.


For the Raspberry PI Zero a power supply of 5W (5V@1A) should be enough (according to this site).

If you add a camera module it could be that the power supply is not sufficient (depends on the camera module).

Also note that you have a max. Power of 5W and waste 7W ((12V-5V)*1A). Perhaps a switching power supply would be better.

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There is no Yes/No answer to this question.

Yes the 7805 CAN supply 1A, although it would require a substantial heatsink if supplied with 12V. A suitable heatsink would probably cost more than a switch mode PSU. In the bad old days (1970s) it was a real challenge to design microprocessor PSU.

The Pi0W is unlikely to consume 1A, depending on what is connected, but can easily use more to run peripherals.

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