NAZ Solar Electric supplies solar equipment and system design for agricultural operations — irrigation and water pumping, livestock water, electric fence charging, and power for barns and outbuildings. We have been a solar equipment distributor in Flagstaff, Arizona since 1979, and we ship nationwide. Our customers are farmers, ranchers, growers, and the pump contractors and electricians who build for them.
Agricultural loads are unforgiving in a specific way: a pump motor draws far more current starting than running, and a system sized to the running number will fail in the field. Our solar application engineers size around the equipment you actually have — the pump on the well, the head you're lifting against, the months you run it. Call 800-383-0195 or talk to an engineer.
Why Farms and Ranches Use Solar
Most agricultural solar projects start with a distance problem. The well, the tank, the fence line, or the shop sits far enough from existing service that bringing utility power to it means trenching, poles, easements, or a road crossing — and the quote for that extension is what sends people looking for another answer.
Power at the point of use. Generate where the equipment is instead of running conductors across the property.
Fewer trips to remote equipment. Hauling fuel to a well in the far pasture is a recurring cost in both money and hours.
Production that matches demand. Irrigation need peaks in the same season and the same hours as solar output.
Capacity you can add to. A system built with expansion in mind can grow as the operation does.
Solar is often the right answer. However, deep wells, high-head lifts, heavy three-phase motors, and year-round runtime can push a project toward more equipment and more cost, which is why we start with the application rather than a kit.
Solar-Powered Irrigation and Agricultural Water Pumping
Irrigation is the largest agricultural use of solar power, and the one where the economics tend to land hardest in solar's favor: water demand rises in exactly the months the array produces most. Solar irrigation systems commonly serve crop irrigation, drip lines, pond and reservoir transfer, greenhouse watering, remote storage tanks, and rural water systems.
Direct pumping or battery pumping?
This is the decision that shapes the budget.
Direct pumping runs the pump straight off the array during daylight and stores the output as water — in a tank, a cistern, or a reservoir. There is no battery bank to buy, maintain, or replace. For most irrigation and stock water applications this is the cheaper and more durable approach, because a tank is a far less expensive way to store a day of capacity than a battery is.
Battery-based pumping is ideal when the pump has to run on a schedule that doesn't follow the sun — night irrigation, pressurized delivery on demand, or a system that must hold output through several overcast days without a tank large enough to ride them out.
If you have room for storage, ask about tank capacity before you ask about battery capacity.
Well pumping for irrigation systems
Sizing a system for an irrigation well means working from the water side first: flow rate needed, total daily volume, well depth, static and pumping water levels, and the total dynamic head once pipe friction and elevation change are accounted for. Those numbers determine the pump, and the pump determines the array.
Three-phase agricultural pumping
Larger agricultural pumps are frequently three-phase, and this is where most solar suppliers stop being useful. Three-phase pumping is workable, but it requires compatible inverter or motor-control equipment and careful attention to starting characteristics. We have designed and supplied systems in this class — including a 480-volt three-phase system running a 40 horsepower deep well pump, described further down this page.
Stock water is the cleanest case for direct solar pumping there is. Cattle drink through the day, tanks hold a reserve, and the pump only has to keep up on average rather than on demand, which means no battery bank and very little to go wrong in a remote location.
The same approach serves rotational grazing, where water has to follow the herd between paddocks, and pasture systems where the nearest service drop is measured in miles. Sizing comes down to head count, gallons per head per day, seasonal peak, and the lift from source to tank.
Electric Fence Charging
A fence energizer draws very little power, but it has to draw it continuously, in a location where running a service line makes no sense. A small solar panel, a battery, a charge controller, and a fence-rated mount will keep an energizer working across pasture indefinitely without trenching or battery swaps.
System size depends on the energizer's draw, fence length, vegetation contact, and how many low-sun days it has to carry. We supply the panels, mounts, batteries, and controllers that power a fence charger.
Barns, workshops, equipment sheds, and greenhouses often sit far enough from the main service that a full utility extension costs more than a dedicated system. An off-grid setup with battery storage can carry lighting, ventilation, tools, refrigeration, security, and controls for a single building. Start with off-grid solar kits and size up from the actual load list.
Does Your System Need Batteries?
Maybe, maybe not. Direct pumping into a tank sidesteps the battery bank entirely, and that is the right answer for a large share of irrigation and stock water projects.
Batteries make sense when something has to keep running after dark or through weather — a fence energizer, monitoring and controls, ventilation, refrigeration, or a pressurized water system that has to deliver on demand. They also make sense where utility outages are frequent enough to interrupt something that can't be interrupted.
Where batteries are warranted, LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) is the usual choice for agricultural use: long cycle life, no watering or equalization, and tolerance for the partial-state-of-charge operation that solar systems live in. Cold overnight temperatures matter for charge acceptance, so location and enclosure are part of the design. Browse lithium batteries and MPPT charge controllers.
Can Solar Replace Your Generator?
It depends.
Where the load is modest and the runtime follows daylight, solar and storage can take over completely. Where the load is large, runs year-round, or absolutely cannot stop, you'll usually keep a generator in the design as a backstop for the stretch of overcast winter days that would otherwise require an uneconomic amount of battery.
The more useful goal is usually reduced runtime. A hybrid system that coordinates solar, batteries, utility, and generator through automatic transfer and energy management can cut fuel burn, maintenance intervals, and the number of trips someone makes out to a remote site with a fuel can — without betting the operation on a string of sunny days.
How We Size an Agricultural System
Sizing starts with the load, and on a farm the load is usually a motor. A pump, compressor, or fan draws substantially more current at startup than it does running, and a system designed around running wattage will trip, brown out, or fail to start the pump at all. Starting current drives inverter selection more than steady-state consumption does. This is the most common reason an agricultural solar system underperforms.
The more of the following you can send, the more accurate the recommendation:
Equipment
Model numbers and data plate photos
Voltage and phase
Running amperage or wattage
Motor starting information
Existing generator, if any
Daily and seasonal runtime
Water, for pumping projects
Gallons per minute needed
Total gallons per day
Well depth, static and pumping level
Total dynamic head
Horizontal distance and pipe size
Elevation change and tank capacity
Our solar application engineers will review the loads, work through the configuration options, and put together an equipment list. Design assistance is provided for systems purchased from NAZ Solar Electric. If you don't have all of these numbers yet, send what you have — we can usually tell you which missing piece matters most.
Agricultural producers and rural small businesses may qualify for federal, state, utility, or rural development programs that offset part of a solar project. Program availability, eligibility rules, and funding windows change, so we don't publish figures here that would go stale. The DSIRE database maintains current state and federal incentive listings, and the administering agency or your tax professional is the right source before you make a purchasing decision. NAZ Solar Electric does not provide tax or financial advice.
Project Example
Agricultural water pumping at the upper end of the scale.
Water Pumping · Northern Arizona
A 40 hp deep well pump for an off-grid community
NAZ Solar Electric partnered with Done Right Electrical to bring running water to a community without grid access. Powering a 40 horsepower deep well pump meant a 480-volt three-phase system, and the work ran from system design through groundwork, underground conduit, concrete, racking, and panels.
The array was sized with enough headroom to run the pump and a community makerspace alongside it. Equipment included JA Solar 545 watt panels, two Sol-Ark 60K hybrid inverters, and Discover Energy AES 210 storage cabinets.
Yes, when the system is designed around the pump's voltage, phase, motor size, and starting current, along with the flow rate, total dynamic head, operating schedule, and available sunlight. Irrigation is one of the better fits for solar because water demand peaks in the same season as solar production.
Does a solar irrigation pump need batteries?
Often not. A direct pumping system runs the pump during daylight and stores the output as water in a tank or reservoir, which is usually cheaper than storing the equivalent energy in batteries. Batteries are worth their cost when pumping must happen at night or on demand.
Can solar power a pump I already have?
Sometimes. It depends on the pump's voltage, phase, motor type, starting current, and existing controller. Send us the model number and a photo of the data plate and we can tell you whether it's workable and what it would take.
Can solar run a three-phase agricultural pump?
Yes, with compatible inverter or motor-control equipment. Three-phase pumping needs careful attention to motor starting characteristics and runtime requirements before equipment is selected. We have supplied systems in this class, including a 480-volt three-phase system running a 40 horsepower deep well pump.
How many solar panels do I need for an irrigation pump?
There's no reliable general answer, because the array is sized from the pump's electrical demand, the head it's lifting against, daily water volume, operating hours, local sun conditions, and whether batteries are involved. Two farms with identical pumps can need different arrays if their wells differ in depth.
Can solar power an electric fence?
Yes. A panel, battery, charge controller, and fence-rated mount will keep an energizer running in a remote location. Size the system to the energizer's draw, the fence length, vegetation contact, and how many low-sun days it needs to carry. NAZ Solar Electric supplies the charging components, not the energizer itself.
Is solar cheaper than extending utility power to a remote well?
It frequently is once the extension involves long trenching runs, new poles, road crossings, or easements, since those costs scale with distance while a solar system doesn't. Get the utility's extension quote before deciding — that number is the comparison, and it's often larger than people expect.
Can solar replace a diesel generator on a farm?
For modest loads that run during daylight, often yes. For large or year-round critical loads, a generator usually stays in the system as a backstop, because covering a long overcast stretch entirely with batteries is rarely economic. The realistic goal is less runtime and fewer refueling trips rather than removing the generator.
What information do you need to size a solar pumping system?
Flow rate, total daily volume, well depth, static and pumping water level, total dynamic head, horizontal distance, pipe size, elevation change, and the pump's model number, voltage, and phase. Photos of the data plate cover most of the electrical side. Send what you have and we'll tell you what's missing.
Does NAZ Solar Electric install agricultural solar systems?
No. NAZ Solar Electric is a solar equipment distributor and system design resource. We supply the equipment and the engineering behind it, and we support both the customer and the installing contractor through commissioning. If you don't have a contractor lined up, get in touch and we can point you toward installers who work in your area.
Are You the Installer?
Pump contractors, electricians, and agricultural contractors source equipment from NAZ Solar Electric for their own projects. Our Partner Program offers wholesale benefits and a dedicated point of contact, and our engineers can work with you directly on system design and commissioning rather than relaying through your customer.
A pump, a fence line, a barn, or the whole operation. Our engineers will work through the loads with you and put together an equipment list built around how your operation actually runs.
