In this study, design and optimization of a concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) system considering electrical, mechanical, and economical aspects is investigated. For this purpose, each section of the system is simulated in MATLAB, in detail. Triple-junction photovoltaic cells, which are the most recent technology, are used in this study. They are more efficient in comparison to conventional photovoltaic cells. Unlike ordinary procedures, in this work active ventilation is used for absorbing the thermal power of radiation, using beat storage tanks, which not only results in increasing the electrical efficiency of the system through decreasing the temperature, but also leads to storing and managing produced thermal energy and increasing the total efficiency of the system up to 85 percent. The operation of the CPVT system is investigated for total hours of the year, considering the needed thermal load, meteorological conditions, and hourly radiation of Khuznin, a city in Qazvin province, Iran. Finally, the collector used for this system is optimized economically, using frog leap algorithm, which resulted in the cost of 13.4 $/m(2) for a collector with the optimal distance between tubes of 6.34 cm. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.