Improved optical sensor for high voltage measurement using white light interferometry

A new approach to perform measurement of potentials in high voltage levels using electrooptical Pockets sensors is presented. This paper describes an application of the White Light Interferometry (WLI) technique to a high voltage optical fiber measurement system. Making use of a characteristic of WLI systems, in which the information is encoded in the spectrum of the light, a compensation method is here proposed allowing the measurement to be independent of the optical power transmitted by the optical fiber link. A prototype was built and tested under excitation of a.c. voltages up to 60 kV in 60 Hz showing good response and demonstrating the feasibility of this method.