High voltage bushing is one of the core components in a power system. Therefore, it is with significant meaning to monitor the insulation status. However, current commercial equipment for online monitoring is not suitable for bushing with special locations and small sizes. As a result, developing a detection system for bushing specifically is necessary. In-situ detection is one of the theoretically feasible ways for bushing monitoring. Compared with metal material, photoacoustic cells made of insulating material can avoid floating potentials and following partial discharge. This paper studied the feasibility of insulating material-based photoacoustic cells. First, the influence of the material on the performance of photoacoustic cells was studied, and potential problems of photoacoustic cells made of insulating material quartz were discussed. Then, using COMSOL Multiphysics, the theoretical performance of quartz photoacoustic cells was simulated from both the thermal and acoustic sides. Finally, a detection system based on quartz photoacoustic cells was established to testify to the simulation outcome. The simulation results indicated that quartz-based photoacoustic cell was as capable as the conventional brass photoacoustic cell to detect trace gas quantitatively. Besides, the detection limit of the established detection system in this word could reach the level of 0.16 μL·L-1, which could meet the relevant standard. Therefore, such insulating material-based photoacoustic cell is with the potential for in-situ detection of bushing.