International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development

Accurate and reliable energy metering is a fundamental requirement for modern power systems, smart grids, and advanced energy management infrastructures. Conventional electronic energy meters rely on electrical sensing techniques that are increasingly vulnerable to electromagnetic interference, environmental stress, signal degradation, and limited sensitivity to early-stage faults. These limitations reduce measurement accuracy, delay fault detection, and contribute to non-technical losses and reliability concerns. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a photonics-based fault detection and monitoring framework for next-generation energy metering systems. The proposed approach leverages optical current and voltage sensors, fiber-optic signal transmission, and photonic data acquisition to achieve high-fidelity, noise-immune measurement of electrical parameters. By converting electrical quantities into modulated optical signals, the framework ensures electrical isolation, enhanced security, and long-distance signal integrity. Real-time feature extraction and fault analysis are applied to identify anomalies such as overload conditions, phase imbalance, harmonic distortion, insulation degradation, and meter tampering. A comprehensive methodology is presented, followed by a detailed discussion of system performance and comparative evaluation with conventional electronic metering solutions. The results demonstrate that photonics-based monitoring provides superior sensitivity, faster fault detection response, and improved reliability under electromagnetically noisy operating conditions. Additionally, the modular architecture supports scalability and seamless integration with advanced metering infrastructure and smart grid communication platforms. Overall, the study confirms that photonic technologies offer a robust, secure, and future-ready solution for intelligent energy metering and fault monitoring applications.