This paper presents a case study of underground thermal storage in a solar-ground coupled heat pump system (SGCHPS) for residential buildings. Based on the experimental results, the operation performance is simulated by the unit modelling. The results show that the performance of underground thermal storage of SGCHPS depends strongly on the intensity of the solar radiation and the matching between the water tank volume and the area of solar collectors. Compared with the solar radiation, the variations of the water tank temperature and the ground temperature raise lag behind and keep several peaks during the day time. In the present study, the experimental efficiency of underground thermal storage based on the absorbed solar energy by the collectors reaches 76%. For the similar design of SGCHPS, it is suggested that the optimal ratio between the tank volume and the area of solar collectors should range from 20 to 40 L/m(2). (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.