Safe, Accurate High-voltage Measurements

Regardless of current type, all high-voltage currents pose a significant risk to the life and limbs of the people who work with them. Given this, one might be tempted to think that avoiding high-voltage currents altogether might be best for all involved. However, there are instances when working with high-voltage currents cannot be avoided.

Take for example power transmission. In this application, electricity is raised to a higher voltage to reduce line loss at long distances. Additionally, many industrial devices require higher voltages due to their higher power requirements.

It is in measurin g high-voltage currents that working with them can become especially tricky. Unlike lower voltage currents that can simply be measured with a device like a multimeter, high-voltage currents would simply destroy the sensitive components needed to make measurement both precise and accurate.

It is for precisely this reason that current transformers play an important role when dealing with high voltage. By transforming power down to scale to a measurable voltage or current, safe, accurate high-voltage measurements become possible.

Additionally, many newer current transformers are designed to be connected to remote monitoring equipment. This adds another degree of safety to the measurement of high-voltage currents by separating human observers from the high-voltage circuit under observation.