Abstract PV pump manufacturers usually provide standardized graphic tools relating water output with PV array power, under given radiation conditions and for constant pumping head. This paper proposes a simple procedure allowing the use of such graphics for the design of boreholes showing significant water level variations with the water flow rate, which lead to important pumping head variations during the day. The procedure requires a knowledge of three parameters widely used for borehole characterization: ‘static level’, ‘dynamic level’ and ‘maximum flow rate’, and is based on a very simple analytical description of results from a simulation exercise.