Optically-supplied voltage transducer for distorted signals in high-voltage systems

A new approach to the implementation of a measurement transducer for high-voltage (HV) electric power systems is presented. The power supply for the HV section of the measurement system, together with the required galvanic isolation, is obtained by means of an innovative energy transfer technique from the low-voltage to the HV section. The energy transfer apparatus is based on conversion of the optical power generated by a laser source into the electrical power needed to supply the measurement circuit. The structure of the insulated transducer is based on a capacitive divider and two electrically isolated signal conditioning sections. The proposed solution allowed for designing and developing a novel and high-performance HV transducer for in-field applications. A prototype version of the transducer was constructed following these new design criteria, and the experimental results confirmed a measurement bandwidth as wide as 5 kHz within a 0.5 accuracy class