Conceptual design and evaluation of an optical sensor for wide-area high-voltage metering and protection applications

This paper considers the design of a fiber-optic voltage sensor for applications in the field of wide area monitoring, protection and control of high voltage power networks. The proposed 132-kV sensor, combining a capacitive voltage divider (CVD) and an optical medium voltage transducer (MVT), was theoretically evaluated through software simulations and its expected performance was assessed based on the operational requirements specified by the IEC standards for electronic voltage transformers. The simulation results suggest that the sensor, when fabricated, should be capable of meeting the requirements for metering and protection classes specified by the IEC 60044–7 standard.