Solar adsorption refrigeration devices are of significance to meet the needs for cooling requirements such as air-conditioning, ice-making and medical or food preservation in remote areas. They are also noiseless, non-corrosive and environmentally friendly. Various solar powered cooling systems have been tested extensively; however, these systems are not yet ready to compete with the well-known vapor compression system. For these reasons, research activities in this sector are still increasing to solve the technical, economical and environmental problems. The objective of this paper is to provide fundamental knowledge on the adsorption systems and present a detailed review on the past efforts in the field of solar refrigeration systems. A number of attempts have been made by researchers to improve the performance of the solar powered adsorption subsystems. It is seen that, for successful operation of such systems, a careful selection of the adsorbent-adsorbate pair is essential apart from the collector choice, system design and arrangement of subsystems. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.