Solar powered solid desiccant cooling system is a good alternative to conventional vapor compression system. In this paper, a novel solar driven desiccant coated heat exchanger cooling (SDCC) system is proposed. In order to validate the feasibility of such system and to predict system performance, an integrated system model is established by combing the mathematical models of different components. The model is adopted to evaluate system performance under Shanghai summer condition with high temperature as well as high humidity ratio. It is found that SDCC system can provide satisfied supply air to conditioned indoor space from 8:00 to 17:00 in June and July, the biggest cooling powers are 2.9 kW and 3.5 kW, and corresponding solar COP are 0.22 and 0.24 respectively. In August, the system needs relatively short switch time (less than 2 min) to provide satisfied supply air, and the corresponding cooling power can reach to 5 kW. To make a good compromise between system performance and system constitution, 2 min is recommended as the switch time under simulated condition in August. Also, effects of main design parameters on system performance are calculated and discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.