ABSTRACT Solar PV technology plays an important role in providing clean water to the rural areas in Nigeria. Most of the rural peoples rely only on the polluted stream water in their villages for drinking and for other domestic purposes. Therefore, they are exposed to various health problems associated with drinking of polluted water. Solar photovoltaic pumping system as an alternative source of potable water in Nigeria has been considered. A general technique for designing simple photovoltaic pumping system suitable for rural applications was analyzed. The pumping system was based on solar photovoltaic power source. The designed solar pumping machine consists of solar PV panels, DC-DC converter, an inverter and a DC or AC water pump. With this method it is possible to predict the fluid flow rate at any given environmental condition. This analysis gives the detailed design considerations of solar powered water pumping system and the differences with the other energy sources as their d