Solar Borehole Pumps
A solar borehole pump is a submersible pump that lifts water from a borehole using energy from solar panels — a practical upgrade wherever grid power is costly, unreliable, or unavailable. Paired with an MPPT controller, it fills storage tanks and supplies homes, farms, and remote sites without the running costs or hard startup surge of a conventional AC borehole pump, and it keeps pumping through load shedding whenever the sun is up.
Our Solar Borehole Pump Range
How Do Solar Borehole Pumps Work?
A solar borehole pump sits submerged in the borehole and connects to photovoltaic panels through an MPPT controller at surface level. The controller converts solar DC into the precise power the motor needs, so output tracks sunlight through the day — filling a header tank or JoJo when yield is highest. Although panels produce DC, most submersible solar borehole pumps use efficient variable-speed AC motors inside the unit; the controller handles conversion so you do not need a separate household inverter dedicated to the pump.
Why Replace an AC Borehole Pump with Solar?
Many properties already run a mains-powered submersible borehole pump. Switching to a solar borehole pump keeps the same borehole and rising main — you change how the motor is powered, not where water comes from.
Lower Running Costs, Softer Starts
Pumping runs from your panels during daylight instead of the grid, which cuts monthly electricity on a pump that often runs for hours. The MPPT controller ramps the motor gently, avoiding the heavy inrush that a typical AC borehole pump draws when it kicks in on a backup inverter or generator.
Water Supply During Load Shedding
When Eskom drops the grid, a solar borehole pump keeps lifting water as long as there is sun — filling storage tanks for evening use. For properties that rely on borehole water daily, that daytime production is often enough to bridge outages without running a diesel generator for the pump.
Fits Your Existing Borehole
Installation follows standard submersible practice: lower the pump on drop cable and rising main, connect the controller to solar, and pipe to your tank or manifold. No new borehole is required — it is a direct replacement for an ageing or costly AC submersible on the same installation.
Where Solar Borehole Pumps Are Used
Residential Borehole Supply
Homes on borehole water use a solar submersible to fill tanks and feed the household line. Size by borehole depth (head), required litres per day, and whether you store water for night-time use.
Farming & Livestock
Farms and game reserves pump from deep boreholes to troughs, dams, and irrigation headers. Screw-type solar borehole pumps suit high head and steady flow; centrifugal models suit higher volume from shallower holes.
Remote & Off-Grid Sites
Lodges, plots, and commercial sites without reliable grid access use solar borehole pumps as the primary water source — no trenching for mains power to the pump station, and no fuel cost once panels are installed.
Understanding Solar Borehole Pump Types
Solar Panels, AC Motors — How It Fits Together
The industry calls them solar borehole pumps because they connect straight to PV panels, but the submersible unit typically contains a variable-speed AC motor. The surface MPPT controller converts solar DC into the frequency and voltage the motor needs — so you get solar pumping without routing the borehole through your home inverter.
Screw vs. Centrifugal Borehole Pumps
Screw pumps use a helical rotor and excel at lifting from deep boreholes (high head) at moderate flow. Centrifugal pumps use impellers and deliver higher volumes from shallower depths. Match pump type to your borehole depth and daily water requirement.
Sizing note: A pump's submersible depth rating is how far below the water surface the unit can operate safely — not the total depth of the borehole. Always size on max head (depth plus delivery height to the tank) and your required flow rate in litres per hour or day.
Solar Borehole Pumps at Our Branches
Bundu Power supplies submersible solar borehole pumps at branches across South Africa. Visit your nearest showroom for borehole sizing, controller matching, and stock availability:
- Johannesburg — head office and Gauteng borehole pumps
- Cape Town — Western Cape submersible solar pumps
- Nelspruit — Lowveld and Mpumalanga boreholes
- Pietermaritzburg — KwaZulu-Natal farm and residential boreholes
- Bloemfontein — Free State and central SA water supply
Need help sizing a borehole pump? Read our Solar Borehole Pumps FAQ or request a quote.