The condensing heat recovery in air conditioner is attractive because of its great economical and environmental value. This paper presents theoretical and experimental investigations of a novel solar thermoelectric air conditioner with hot water supply (STACHWS). The system can implement different working modes according to the building users' requirement. Experiments were carried out under different operating conditions in order to investigate the performance of the system. Results show that the STEACWS can reliably be used to heat hot water without losing its cooling capacity when it is controlled well in different operation conditions. The system has relatively remarkable coefficient of performance (COP,) which can be as high as about 4.51 in space cooling and water heating mode. When the system works as a water source thermoelectric heat pump, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the system can be about 2.59 in cooling mode and 3.01 in heating mode. This simple and environmentally friendly system can reduce indoor cooling and heating load and provide a continuous hot water supply for householders. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.