Abstract Photovoltaic-electrodialysis (PV-ED) regeneration is a novel method for liquid desiccant cooling system (LDCS), which has a higher performance than the conventional thermal regeneration method by using solar photovoltaic components to drive an electrodialysis regeneration process. However, there are many defects in the previous proposed single-stage PV-ED system. In this paper, a new double-stage photovoltaic/thermal ED regeneration system is presented. Analysis of the performances of the single-stage and double-stage regeneration system is made and the influential factors are investigated. It reveals that the double-stage PVT-ED regeneration system is more applicable than the single-stage PV-ED regeneration system for liquid desiccant cooling system. Moreover, comparisons between the single-stage system and the double-stage system show that the double-stage system is more energy efficient than the single-stage system under the optimized working conditions.