Abstract: A flat self-driven mechanical ventilated solar air collector（SDSAC）which can work independently without the urban power grid was proposed based on a previous studied baffle-type solar air collector. The structural design,electrical design and performance test of this new kind collector were carried out in this paper. The feasibility of self-driven operation of SDSAC was verified by the experiment,and its working characteristics were analyzed by monitoring its internal temperature distribution,photoelectric efficiency and solar thermal efficiency on typical weather day. The experimental results show that the working process of SDSAC can be divided into five stage（ascending stage,pre-transition stage,quasi-isothermal stage,post-transition stage,descending stage）under typical meteorological condition. There exists a quasi-isothermal stage. During this period,research the outlet temperature and air flow rate of SDSAC are almost constant lasting about two hours. When the PV module is placed at 45° in the first cavity,the photoelectric efficiency of the SDSAC reaches a maximum value of 5.4% and the maximum thermal efficiency is up to 74.2% in the quasi-isothermal stage. The average thermal efficiency of the SDSAC can reach about 49.2%.