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 mu m. 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 100km from the optical power source.