There is no doubt on the importance to investigate and develop solar thermal collectors within the framework of environmentally friendly technological heat production. Mathematical modelling is the theoretically established tool for this purpose. In this study, a new, validated, general and easy-to-apply multiple linear regression based (MLR-based) model is proposed for solar collectors. This MLR-based model is likely the simplest possible linear black-box type model, which can still describe the transient collector processes precisely. The proposed MLR-based model is proved to be more accurate than a physically-based collector model used successfully in many applications according to the literature. Based on the comparison of measured and simulated data of a real collector field, the validation and the efficiency of both models are demonstrated. The generality and simple applicability of the MLR-based model is also discussed along with future research proposals. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.