The authors report a high-voltage (2.1 V) optical-to-electrical power converter, or photogenerator, operating in the wavelength range 1.0–1.65 µm. These devices will power simple electrical and optoelectronic circuits that may enable provisioning and protection at unpowered nodes in lightwave networks, thus increasing the functionality of the network in a cost-effective way. The photogenerators were used in system experiments to operate switches and micromotors at remote nodes located 100 km from the optical power source.