Frankfurt-based innovators tec5 AG are at the forefront of technology for spectroscopy. Here, PES talks to Manager Business Unit Systems Steffen Piecha about developing the products that will keep the PV industry at its best.
PES: Welcome to PES magazine. Would you like to begin by explaining a little about the company, and how it serves the solar/PV industry?
Steffen Piecha: tec5, based near Frankfurt, Germany, has an 18 year history in diode array spectroscopy. Our five founders recognised very early the immense impact which this fast and compact technology will have on industrial process control. High-speed inline measurements are instrumental in helping industry to maintain optimal quality in the production process and to increase efficiency.
Today, tec5 is an industry leading company in UV/VIS and NIR spectroscopy, operating worldwide with global representatives and subsidiaries in the US and UK. We employ 35 people worldwide, with the majority having a degree in engineering or physics.
Starting with the development of diode array spectrometer electronics in 1993, tec5 now delivers more than 1500 units a year globally. Our company continuously develops innovative measurement solutions which are applied in many industrial segments such as semiconductor, chemistry, lighting, coating and other related fields.
Our product portfolio ranges from spectrometer electronics and sub-systems for integration into customer equipment to complete application specific solutions. Primarily we see ourselves as a technology supplier for industrial partners. You will find out that tec5 spectrometers are at the core of many inspection systems which are installed in the field. For some applications we offer turn-key solutions, however this is not typically our focus.
The solar/PV industry is one of our most recent markets. Within the solar/PV industry we have explored a lot of areas where our spectrometers are used very successfully in the quality inspection of solar cells and a-Si thin films. Also, I’d like to mention the qualification of flasher systems and the concentration measurements in etching baths as well as the production control of glass coatings. Together with our industrial partners, we have developed many applications, and we are able to offer optimised system solutions for multiple parameters.
