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The concept of solar-air dual source heat pump has been proposed to overcome the limitations of single source heat pump system. In this paper, a comparative investigation is presented among three types of solar-air dual source heat pump with different heat source configurations: solar-air series source heat pump (SA-SHP), solar-air parallel source heat pump (SA-PHP) and air-solar series source heat pump (AS-SHP). The impact of environmental parameters has been discussed, and the optimal working condition for each system has been identified. The results indicate that SA-SHP is suitable for working under the environment with low solar irradiation, AS-SHP shows the best performance under the condition with low ambient temperature and high solar irradiation, and SA-PHP can achieve the optimal state at high ambient temperature or high solar irradiation. The dynamic performance of SA-SHP, SA-PHP and AS-SHP in the daytime has been compared. The dynamic behavior of each system is significantly different. The COP of SA-PHP is the highest ranging from 4.50 to 4.58, followed by AS-SHP ranging from 4.39 to 4.50, and the COP of SA-SHP is the lowest ranging from 4.33 to 4.41. Moreover, the annual performance and economic feasibility for each system in different climatic regions are evaluated. • Dual source heat pump with different heat source configurations is compared. • Optimal working condition for each system is identified. • The role of air source evaporator and solar evaporator in each system is discussed. • The annual and economic performance is evaluated in different climatic regions. • The annual average COPs of each system in Hefei, Beijing and Xining are above 3.0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]