A new type of solar thermal collector which can be integrated with facades and roofs to provide pleasant shapes is introduced. The solar collector has an elliptic curved shape, and ellipse aspect ratio was varied to cover all geometric shapes. The mathematical equations were developed to calculate the beam and diffuse radiation absorbed on the elliptic curved collector. Theoretical analysis was done to determine the effects of the ellipse aspect ratio and the azimuth angle of the collector on the performance of the collector, and the results were compared with a conventional tilted fiat plate collector for four typical clear-sky days (spring and fall equinoxes and summer and winter solstices). The total energy received throughout the year is also compared. The elliptic curved collector is able to absorb a sufficient amount of solar radiation to be competitive with a conventional flat plate collector. One of the advantages of this study is in the mathematical expression that enables the designers to simulate not only all possible configurations but also all possible orientations of the elliptic curved collectors covering all days. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.