Cogeneration systems have been employed for many years in various heat and power applications. The micro combined heat and power (mCHP) system is an advanced and miniature version of the cogeneration system and is expected to play a major role in curbing CO2 emissions and increasing the primary energy savings in the near future. The residential sector is a significant consumer of both electrical energy and petroleum based fuels. This paper reviews recent studies related to the research and development of micro combined heat and power (mCHP) systems, which have been proposed and investigated for residential applications. The salient features of each prime mover or energy conversion device used in the systems, in their marketing and potential developments are presented. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.