A novel photovoltaic-Trombe wall (PV-TW) is proposed and investigated experimentally and theoretically in this paper. The PV-TW was installed at the south-facing external wall of an environmental chamber that carried two identical test rooms. Both of the test rooms have a double window of the same size. One test room was installed with the PV-TW (known as the PV-TW room), and the other without PV-TW (known as the reference room). The influence of the PV-TW on the thermal environment of the test room was investigated under different operating conditions. The experimental results show the dual benefits of the PV-TW system: improving the room thermal condition and at the same time generating electricity. Compared with the reference room, the maximum indoor temperature was found to be 5-7 degrees C higher in winter, and the daily electrical output reached about 0.3 kWh with a PV cell area of 0.72 m(2). Also, a detailed model is given to evaluate the performance of PV-TW theoretically, and the PV-TW room is simulated under one certain operating condition. The simulated and measured air temperatures of PV-TW room are found to be in good agreement. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.