Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collectors can theoretically be designed to operate at near 80% in combined efficiency and has therefore been received ever increasing attention. In the present study, a 3D concentrated PV/T model was built and its photovoltaic/thermal system performances were investigated by a coupled TRNSYS and CFD simulation method. The influences of different kinds of solar cells and various parameters on the system performance have been systematically evaluated. As the most imporatant economic index for the practical use of PV/T system, in terms of the overall exergy efficiency under 50 times concentrations and 0.08 m.s(-1) inlet velocity, the sequence was found to be InGaP/GaAs/ InGaAs (37.53%) > GaAs (29.62%) > GaInP (21.62%). InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs solar cell under 50 times of concentration and inlet fluid velocity of 0.02 m.s(-1) was therefore employed for further one-step static TRNSYS-CFD coupled investigation. It was analyzed per hour, per month and per day based on the meteorological condition of Xi'an, a typical city in west China. In terms of energy efficiency, the energy economy is worse when the solar irradiance is relatively higher. However, the energy output is relatively larger under same condition. The trend for the exergy economy and the exergy output is inversed. Not only the thermal exergy efficiency is larger with the increased solar irradiance, the higher solar irradiance is also preferred in the view of thermal exergy output. Finally, noon time of 12:00 was chosen as the time variable in the coupled simulation per month and per day in July and August to get the largest total exergy outputs. It was found that the optimum working conditions vary according to different evaluation factors, the reasonable results should be determined according to specific needs. Our work should be valuable for the prediction and evaluation of performance of a designed PV/T system operating under various meteorological conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.