Abstract A novel solar concentrating PV and thermal (CPVT) combined system with beam splitter and compact concentrator structure is proposed in this study. The system structure and its design method are provided. The optical filter is designed and the incident light angle effect on the beam splitting performance is investigated. Solar concentrating simulations are conducted and the relevant results reveal that the CPVT combined system can provide a high solar concentration uniformity. The evaluation results of configuration and optical analyses indicate that when all the other parameters are settled, the optimal installation height of the solar receiver tube is 923.0 mm. The influence study of sun tracking accuracy on the system optical performance is launched. It is concluded that when the tracking error increases to 1.0°, the overall optical efficiency is 66.2%. The thermodynamic analysis results indicate that the PV conversion and overall energy efficiencies of the CPVT system are 30.5% and 26.6%, which are both higher than those of the normal CPV system. Moreover, the operating temperature effect investigation of solar thermal receiver tube is conducted. The results show that an optimal solar thermal receiver tube temperature (356.0 °C) exists, which can result in the maximum total output power.