Authors: Isa Zanetti (researcher at SUPSI) Greta Battaglia (Scientific Collaborator at SUPSI), Dr. Pierluigi Bonomo (Head of the Innovative Envelope Team at SUPSI).

The MC2.0 project (“Mass Customization 2.0 for Integrated PV”) is a Horizon Europe initiative aimed at accelerating the large-scale adoption of integrated photovoltaic (IPV) products through advanced manufacturing and mass‑customisation methods. One of its strategic tasks focuses on attracting young talents and engaging recent graduates: the campaign seeks to inform students about job opportunities, strengthen technical skills at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and stimulate new career paths in the solar and built‑environment sectors.

At SUPSI, this objective materialises through the course in Solar Architecture (ARSOLARE), offered annually to third‑year Bachelor students in architecture. The ARSOLARE curriculum, comprising theoretical inputs, site visits to IPV product developers and demonstrator buildings, and hands‑on atelier work, aligns directly with MC2.0’s youth‑talent initiative. Through this course, students develop technical competencies in solar architecture, gain exposure to industrial processes, and connect with professional networks.

The Approfondimento in Sostenibilità: Architettura Solare (ARSOLARE) course is a key component of SUPSI’s Sustainable Architecture pathway. Rooted in the vocational education of Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts, ARSOLARE provides a structured and practice‑oriented learning experience that integrates research, applied design and hands‑on experimentation.

The course equips future architects with the ability to integrate solar technologies and energy‑efficient strategies within architectural design while maintaining aesthetic and conceptual coherence. Students engage with principles of climate‑responsive architecture, energy balance, material sustainability and circular construction: competences aligned with European and Swiss ambitions for Net Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) and Zero Carbon Architecture.

The teaching approach alternates theoretical lectures, design studios and group exercises, encouraging critical thinking and exploration. Students use training material such as docufilms, video-interviews, reading of solar manifesto and article reviews from architects, along with analyitical tools for solar simulation to evaluate energy performance, solar potential and material efficiency. This method fosters a continuous dialogue between architectural creativity and technical innovation.

A strong link with professional practice characterises the course: students participate in field visits, thematic workshops, guided tours of demonstrator buildings, sessions in the Materioteca, and visits to IPV production facilities. External professionals and architects contribute through guest lectures and expert feedback, reinforcing the course’s applied dimension.

In the last edition, a central component of the course was the Atelier on Solar Architecture, a design contest that challenges students to develop a small‑scale intervention on the SUPSI campus. Participants are invited to create a multifunctional outdoor space integrating BIPV as an architectural and infrastructural element. They design shaded areas, seating structures or meeting spaces where the solar system becomes a driver of both spatial and aesthetic composition.
The resulting works – conceptual sketches, 1:100 drawings, 1:5 details, renderings and environmental analyses – demonstrate how energy, form and materiality can be holistically integrated.

Throughout the semester, ARSOLARE integrates a series of hands-on exercises that reinforce the theoretical content of each lecture. The course begins with an interactive workshop on climate-responsive design, where students analyse texts, work in groups and map ideas collaboratively.

Practical solar tools are introduced early on: students use Solar Pathfinder to perform a horizon and shading survey and later analyse PV module datasheets to understand how material and aesthetic choices influence performance. This is followed by the application of simulation tools to evaluate the solar potential of real buildings and to size PV systems based on site conditions.

In a tandem course students complement their skills: environmental assessment is addressed through exercises with Lesosai for calculating embodied energy and CO₂ emissions, alongside classroom activities on thermal balance and ventilation linked to SIA 380/1. A creative dimension is added through the use of solarchitecture.ch, where students study exemplary solar buildings and translate their findings into a conceptual moodboard.

The technical depth of the course increases with a reverse-engineering exercise on BIPV construction details, helping students understand material logic and integration principles. Additional hands-on sessions include light and shading measurements, which students use to refine and justify their design choices in the atelier. The applied component culminates in an industrial workshop at a PV manufacturing facility, giving students direct exposure to production processes and professional feedback on their design proposals.

The following images show three student works produced as part of the early case‑study exercise. Each student analysed an exemplary solar building using solarchitecture.ch and summarised their findings in an A3 moodboard. The elaborations highlight solar strategies such as orientation, PV integration and material choices, showing how these influence performance and architectural expression.
Together, these works reflect the course’s aim of fostering a critical and design‑oriented understanding of solar architecture.

The advanced topics explored in the ARSOLARE approfondimento are closely linked to the sustainability principles introduced in a side course held in parallel, where students study ecological construction, resource efficiency and circular design. Combined, these components create a cohesive learning environment in which technical, environmental and architectural considerations inform one another.

Each year, invited professionals from the construction and photovoltaic sectors enrich the course through guest lectures, demonstrations and open discussions. This regular interaction with industry provides students with real‑world insight and strengthens the applied character of ARSOLARE.

The ARSOLARE course reaches its culmination in a final design assignment where students translate the semester’s concepts into a concrete architectural proposal. In 2024/2025, the brief focused on the Mendrisio architecture campus, making the exercise highly relevant for students. They were asked to design a multifunctional outdoor space connected to existing buildings, integrating BIPV as a key architectural and infrastructural element.

The assignment emphasised social function, user experience, materiality and the expressive potential of light and shadow—core themes that accompany the entire programme. Deliverables included 1:100 drawings, 1:5 details, material lists, renderings and technical analyses (energy, environmental impact, lifecycle considerations).

As a recurring component of the final Bachelor semester, the assignment retains a stable conceptual framework but is reinterpreted each year through new collaborations with professionals and emerging opportunities. This ensures continuous exposure to evolving practices and real challenges, making the project a true intersection of education, research and industry.

ARSOLARE illustrates how an academic programme can function as a living laboratory for innovation in sustainable architecture. Its experiential structure—combining lectures, site visits, expert input and design experimentation—allows students to develop both technical competencies and an environmentally grounded design culture.

This Swiss educational model offers valuable insights for MC2.0, serving as a replicable case for other academic and professional contexts. By merging research, practice and industrial collaboration, ARSOLARE contributes to forming a new generation of architects capable of designing with the sun.

The MC2.0 project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 10109613 and from State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).