Abstract Optical or light beam induced current (OBIC or LBIC) are well known techniques for the analysis of integrated circuits and the study of electrically active materials in material science. They are also natural methods for analysis of photovoltaic cells, as the photocurrent of a photovoltaic cell itself is measured. We present a new measurement setup including graphical user interface software which has been created in a student project by refurbishing a used CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine. The technique is applied to the measurement of the short circuit current of a photovoltaic (PV) cell with dimensions of 154 × 154 mm2.