From Simulation to Building Deployment: A Systematic Evidence Map of Concentrating Solar Thermal Systems for Heating, Cooling, and Domestic Hot Water

Building-scale concentrating solar thermal (CST) research spans diverse technologies and services, yet cross-service evidence on deployment maturity remains fragmented. This systematic evidence map assessed CST systems for heating, cooling, dehumidification, and domestic hot water (DHW) using five validation maturity (VM) levels, five reporting transparency (RT) indicators, and a two-layer application–temperature–validation matrix (ATVM). Scopus and Web of Science records were screened and consolidated into unique study families. Of 931 records, 568 were unique; 160 eligible journal reports formed 145 study families spanning 1992–2026 and at least 34 countries, with China (17 families) and India (12) being the most represented. Cooling-only (59/145; 40.7%) and DHW-only (36/145; 24.8%) were the largest services. Parabolic trough collectors (PTCs; 71/145; 49.0%) and compound parabolic/non-imaging collectors (CPC/non-imaging; 46/145; 31.7%) predominated, while linear Fresnel reflectors (LFRs) accounted for 7/145 families (4.8%). Ninety-eight families (67.6%) were model-led, 38 reached controlled prototype testing, and nine reached integrated real-weather demonstration; none met all source-explicit VM5 criteria for routine monitored building operation. This corpus-bounded result does not imply the absence of operational CST installations. Linking companion reports and separating performance, validation proximity, reporting transparency, and temperature provenance identify progression to monitored routine building operation as the central evidence gap.