The potential of solar energy development for water pumping in Jordan was studied. For this purpose, 10 sites were selected based on the available solar radiation data. According to the annual amount of water output, the selected sites can be divided into three different categories: the first one, which includes Taffieleh, Queira, H-4, and H-5, is considered to be "adequate" for solar water pumping. Their annual amount of water output forms about 62% of all water pumped from all the 10 sites combined. Among the four sites included in this first category, Taffieleh has the highest potential. Not only can the most annual amount of water pumped be obtained from this location, but also the largest monthly amount of water-except for the month of March-during the year. Furthermore, about 51% of the annual amount of water pumped at Taffieleh is during the summer months (May-September), when the water consumption is the highest and water pumping is a necessity. The second category, which includes Ras Muneef, Mafraq, and Hasa, is considered to be "promising". its water output adds up to about 29% of all water pumped from all sites. The third category, including Deir Alla, Baqura, and Wadi Yabis, is considered to be "poor". Only about 9% of the water pumped from all sites combined can be obtained from these three locations. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.