This paper presents a contribution to understanding the behavior of solar-powered air conditioning and refrigeration systems with a view to determining the manner in which refrigeration rate, mass flows, heat transfer areas, and internal architecture are related. A cogeneration system consisting of a solar concentrator, a cavity-type receiver, a gas burner, and a thermal storage reservoir is devised to simultancously produce heat (hot water) and cooling (absorption refrigerator system). A simplified mathematical mode, which combines fundamental and empirical correlations, and principles of classical thermodynamics, mass and heat transfer, is developed. The proposed model is then utilized to simulate numerically the system transient and steady-state response under different operating and design conditions. A system global optimization for maximum performance (or minimum exergy destruction) in the search for minimum pull-down and pull-up times, and maximum system second law efficiency is performed with low computational time. Appropriate dimensionless groups are identified and the results are presented in normalized charts for general application. The numerical results show that the three-way maximized system second law efficiency, eta(11, max,max,max) occurs when three system characteristic mass flow rates are optimally selected in general terms as dimensionless heat capacity rates, i.e. (Psi(ss), Psi(wxwx), Psi (Hs))opt = (0.335, 0.28, 0.2). The minimum pull-down and pull-up times, and maximum second law efficiencies found with respect to the optimized operating parameters are sharp and, therefore, important to be considered in actual design. As a result, the model is expected to be a useful tool for simulation, design, and optimization of solar energy systems in the context of distributed power generation. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.