The design of central receivers in solar thermal power plants is critical for efficient plant operation and sufficient operational lifetimes. The high, non-uniform concentration ratios used in central receivers lead to high, non-uniform receiver temperatures. For the same operational conditions, small changes to the receiver design can make a big impact on the expected lifetime of the receiver. This is due to limitations of the receiver materials to high temperatures and thermal cycling. In this study, we investigate the effect of several engineering concepts on the resultant surface temperatures of tubular billboard receivers. Four tubular billboard designs are investigated along with the sensitivity these designs have to high temperatures resulting from changes in the aiming point of the heliostat array. We examined a receiver with single diameter tubes, an ideal flow receiver, a receiver using various diameter tubes and a receiver made of tube panels in series. The single-diameter and multi-diameter receivers were found to have high temperatures and high sensitivity under non-standard irradiation. The multi-pass receiver was found to out-perform the other designs by reducing both the maximum surface temperatures under standard irradiance and the risk of high temperatures from irradiance changes. The results provide insights into tubular billboard receiver design, material selection and design for extended life. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.