Fundamental experiments on the solar-powered adsorption cooling system were carried out with small-scale apparatus simulating ideally a practical unit by employing a combination of silica-gel and water vapor as an example of the adsorbent-adsorbate combinations. A simple model which takes into account both adsorption properties and apparatus characteristics was proposed to interpret our experimental results quantitatively. Then the transitional behavior of heat and mass transfer in continuous adsorption-regeneration experiments was successfully interpreted by the model. The model proposed here is not a complete one and is to be considered as a first-step model for estimating operation with practical equipment. Also, the contribution of the level of regeneration temperature of adsorbents to the cooling performance was quantitatively clarified on the basis of the adsorption equilibrium relation, which is considered useful in choosing a favorable combination of adsorbent and adsorbate for the system.