A new inverted trapezoidal cavity receiver with absorber of a bundle of tubes used in trough solar concentrator system is designed. The influence of some geometric parameters in the cavity design on the optical performance of the receiver are theoretically analyzed and optimized by theoretical analysis, Tracepro software simulation and experimental methods. Furthermore, the influence of installation position deviations on optical performance of the cavity receiver are studied. Simulation and analysis results show that the wall surface on inverted trapezoid is reflex arc surface, whose optical efficiency can be improved nearly 4%. The optical efficiency increases gradually with the increase of opening angle, and firstly increases and then decreases slowly with the increase of arc radius. The combination of the opening angle of 65° and the radius of the reflection arc 90 mm has higher optical efficiency, more uniform energy flux distribution on the wall of collector tube, and better photothermal transfer efficiency. When vertical installation position is 5 mm below focal length, the optical efficiency is better than that at the focal length. By using the normalized temperature difference and the test method of the instantaneous heat collection efficiency, the optical efficiency of the trough concentrating collector is 73%, which is in good agreement with the ideal value of the simulation.