Freesuns, Fraunhofer ISE built pilot solar tile line in Freiburg

Fraunhofer ISE set up a pilot production line for solar roof tiles using matrix shingle technology at Module-TEC in Freiburg as part of the SPHINX research project. Freesuns, a Swiss solar roof manufacturer, began pilot-scale production of its newly developed tiles, with 800 out of 4,000 tiles produced since March 2025 and installations underway on five buildings in Switzerland. The tiles, made with TOPCon cells in a shingled matrix format, aimed for better integration with historic buildings. The matrix arrangement allowed full module surface coverage and improved efficiency by about 4 percent relative to half-cell modules. The design also showed higher shading tolerance. The project included EU-funded collaboration among European manufacturers and research bodies to develop cost-effective, modular BIPV elements.