A spiral solar particle receiver (SSPR) with a conical cover was proposed, and the performance was experimentally and numerically investigated. The SSPR was heated by a concentrated radiant flux of kW over a 10 cm-diameter aperture with a maximum irradiance of over 700 kW/m(2). The experimental results indicated the particle temperature increase reached over 625 C in a single pass with an optical and a thermal efficiency of similar to 87% and similar to 60%, respectively, when the mass flow rate was 0.21 kg/min. The optical performances of the solar simulator and the receiver were combined and simulated by the Monte-Carlo ray-tracing method. Based on the optical model, a dynamic thermal conversion model was built, which indicated the particle temperature and the overall efficiency of SSPR would reach 628-673 degrees C and 58.9-63.7%, respectively, when the SSPR was coupled with a 3 m two-stage dish concentrator with a solar inclination angle ranging from 60 degrees to 120 degrees. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.