As a comprehensive optoelectronics group, Jenoptik is well-known – and indeed, well respected – within the PV arena. With its group headquarters in Jena (Germany), the company is represented in nearly 70 countries and has major production sites abroad in the USA, France and Switzerland as well as shareholdings in India, China, Korea and Japan. Division Manager, Dr. Thomas Fehn, offers an illuminating insight into the firm’s inner workings and aspirations.
PES: Welcome to PES magazine, can you start off by introducing your company and the services it provides to the PV industry?
Dr. Thomas Fehn: Jenoptik is a leading manufacturer of optoelectronic systems and components. The company has five divisions employing over 3,000 professionals in Europe, Asia and North America. Jenoptik’s Lasers & Material Processing division provides an entire value added chain starting with laser components, leading into laser sources and finally the laser material processing automation equipment. With 400 employees, the Lasers & Material Processing division supplies highly efficient laser processing technology that optimises customers’ cost of ownership. Our division is serving the markets with sales, service and application centres in Europe, North America and Asia.
Both our Optical Systems and Lasers & Material Processing divisions support the PV industry. To serve the PV market, the Optical System division manufactures optical components and optical systems, whereas the Lasers & Material Processing division supplies a vertically integrated value chain to support laser processing activities.
The Laser and Material Processing value chain starts with semiconductor components and diode laser sources mainly used for laser soldering applications. Our diode pumped solid state lasers and fibre lasers are used in the production processing for both wafer based and thin film PV modules. And finally our automation group designs and builds high volume production laser machines for processing thin film and crystalline silicon wafer based PV modules.
PES: Jenoptik’s Lasers & Material Processing division offers a vertically integrated value added chain. What is the benefit for your customers?
TF: Since 2010, Jenoptik’s Lasers & Material Processing division is now organised into two business units which structure our value added chain within the logical boundaries of the markets we are serving.
