This paper presents the experimental results of a solar photovoltaic air conditioner system to study the heating and cooling performance of system in the hot summer and cold winter zone like Shanghai, China. Four working modes have been investigated: cooling in summer and heating in winter, both for daytime and nighttime. The design of the system is described. Results are reported in terms of COPsolar based on solar radiation, Solar Fraction (SF) and Solar Direct Consumption Ratio (SDCR) respectively. It is found that the COPsolar for cooling of present system was around 0.32, which is higher than solar thermal driven cooling machine, while the heating COPsolar for heating was around 0.37, which is lower than the thermal efficiency of conventional solar thermal collector. The energy flow chart has been drawn based on measured results of typical weather condition in Shanghai. The energy losses in different devices of the system have been evaluated. This work has demonstrated that consistent and reliable air conditioning can be achieved by present system in winter as well as in summer and thereby can be used as a good solution to reduce the peak load of electrical grid in the hot summer and cold winter zone of China or the area with similar weather conditions around the world. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.