Abstract: Sphere flow receiver is a receiver which uses spheres as the heat absoption and transfer media.In order to verify the feasibility of the sphere flow receiver in principle,and to study the influencing factors of the heat absorption processes of the spheres,a sphere heating model was established and then verified by experiments carried out with the solar simulator.The effects of the radiation flux density,the air flow rate and the surface emissivity on the characteristics of the sphere temperature were investigated using this model.This study shows that spheres have the high thermal efficiency as the heat absorption media,so the sphere flow receiver is feasible in principle.Increasing the radiation flux density on the sphere surface can significantly improve the thermal efficiency of the sphere during the heat absorption process.Reducing the air flow rate or the surface emissivity can effectively improve the thermal efficiency.These results offered guidance for design and operation of the further sphere flow receiver.