Abstract Heat is primarily important in the world’s total energy consumption and especially, peak loads and seasonal variations result in problems which are difficult to efficiently come up with electricity networks. Renewable energy sources bring important new possibilities, especially for the heat energy. This paper focuses on heat energy: compact parametric models are essential in the smart integration of production in the district heating and efficient collection of the solar thermal energy. Thermal masses of the buildings are used in the peak load cutting as energy storages. The physical parameters calculated from the building information facilitate the use of different types of buildings simultaneously in the calculations. Smart adaptive control solutions extend feasible operating periods in collecting solar thermal energy. A combination of multiple control actions is essential in keeping the system in control during strong fluctuations in cloudiness and energy demand. Heat storages increase the collecting power and extend the utilisation of the solar energy utilisation over daily and seasonal periods.