Innovative alternative solar thermal solutions for housing in conservation-area sites listed as national heritage assets

•Description the French legislative constraints governing the deployment of thermal solar collectors in France.•New solar thermal collector developed.•Description of the modelling process and model validation ready for use in simulations.•Operating experience and technical developments. In a privatized global marketplace, innovation is a key driver of sustainable development and national competitiveness. Here we report on an innovative new fully building-integrated thermal solar panel concept that is patented and currently being readied for commercialization. The paper outlines the French regulatory landscape governing the deployment of thermal solar panels in France, and thus the need for countries like France to develop new building-integrated solar power meeting “building-envelope” integration requirements for protected areas. We go on to introduce the new as-developed system, its physical modelling via a finite element analysis model constructed using an electric circuit analogy, and the results achieved on a detached home retrofitted with this system and trialled for a 12-month period. This paper leads out of COST – European Cooperation Science and Technology – framework action TU 1205 “Building Integration of Solar Thermal Systems”.