A solar energy-powered water pumps are water pumps running on the electricity that is generated by solar energy. For generating solar power, Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are used for complementary energy source, they are deployed alongside diesel pumps in areas with plenty of sunshine and where the cost to run power lines is high.

Solar powered water pumps can deliver drinking water as well as water for livestock or irrigation purposes. Solar water pumps may be especially useful in small scale or community based irrigation, as large scale irrigation requires large volumes of water that in turn require a large solar PV array.

As the water may only be required during some parts of the year, a large PV array would provide excess energy that is not necessarily required, thus making the system inefficient. Energy storage in the form of water storage is better than energy storage in the form of batteries for solar water pumps because there is no intermediary transformation of one form of energy to another. The most common pump mechanics used are centrifugal pumps, multistage pumps, borehole pumps, and helical pumps. Important scientific concepts of fluid dynamics like pressure vs. head, pump heads, pump curves, system curves, and net suction head are really important for the successful deployment and design of solar powered pumps