High temperature solar receiver is a core component of solar thermal power plants. However, non-uniform solar irradiation on the receiver walls and flow maldistribution of heat transfer fluid inside the tubes may cause the excessive peak temperature, consequently leading to the reduced lifetime. This paper presents an original CFD (computational fluid dynamics)-based evolutionary algorithm to determine the optimal fluid distribution in a tubular solar receiver for the minimization of its peak temperature. A pressurized-air solar receiver comprising of 45 parallel tubes subjected to a Gaussian-shape net heat flux absorbed by the receiver is used for study. Two optimality criteria are used for the algorithm: identical outlet fluid temperatures and identical temperatures on the centerline of the heated surface. The influences of different filling materials and thermal contact resistances on the optimal fluid distribution and on the peak temperature reduction are also evaluated and discussed. Results show that the fluid distribution optimization using the algorithm could minimize the peak temperature of the receiver under the optimality criterion of identical temperatures on the centerline. Different shapes of optimal fluid distribution are determined for various filling materials. Cheap material with low thermal conductivity can also meet the peak temperature threshold through optimizing the fluid distribution. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.