A method is described for accurately positioning laser scribed lines in a thin top layer of material which overcoats one or more other lower layers in which lines have already been scribed for the purpose of making solar panels. This is accomplished by means of an optics unit that generates one or more laser beams in order to scribe one or more lines in the top layer on the panel. An alignment detector system is attached to the optics unit and the detector is displaced from the optics unit by a distance such that the detector measures the position of one of the scribes in the lower layers in the area of the panel that will be scribed at a subsequent time. A control and motion system accepts data from the alignment detector attached to the optics unit and uses the data to correct the relative position of the optics unit with respect to the panel in the direction perpendicular to the scribe direction in order to cause the laser scribed lines to be accurately placed with respect to lines already scribed in the lower layer. A motion system moves the panel with respect to the optics unit and the associated alignment detector such that the detector follows the path of one or more of the lines scribed in one of the lines scribed in one of the lower layers and measures the position of the line or lines over the full length while laser scribing of the top layer by the optics unit proceeds in a different area of the panel. The invention further comprises a laser ablation tool for carrying out the method as aforesaid.