A solar-powered adsorption air-conditioning system was designed and installed in the green building of Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science. The system contained 150 m2 solar collectors and two adsorption chillers with nominal refrigeration capacity of 8.5 kW. Based on performance characteristics of the adsorption chiller, the operation mode of the solar-powered air-conditioning system was optimized by maintaining a phase shift of 540 s between the two adsorption chillers. Thereafter, the whole system realized stable operation by the balance of heat consumption and refrigeration output.