Absorption air-conditioning system has many priorities over vapor compression air-conditioning system as absorption system is more environment-friendly, capable of utilizing low grade heat and less dependent on the electric power. However, because of the low efficiency of energy usage, the performance of absorption system is not yet as competitive as vapor compression system. To improve that, a novel membrane absorption system is proposed in this paper: a regenerator consists of stacks with ion-exchange membranes, takes the places of the generator and the condenser: the electric energy gained from solar or wind power is utilized to drive this system. Primary analysis has been made, and the results show that this proposed membrane absorption air-conditioning system can raise its coefficient of performance as high as, or even higher than that of vapor compression system when the absorbent is LiBr solution, of which the mass concentration is below 52%, and the applied voltage is no more than 100 V. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.