In order to stabilize water supply for remote regions and deserts, it is not only necessary to improve the power generation system, but also to improve its maintenance strategy. Photovoltaic pumping systems need to be maintained periodically. Both maintenance efficiency improvement and reduction of its cost are desired. Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the promising technologies that will be able to improve efficiency in maintenance and reduce human errors. AR expands the surrounding real world by superimposing computer-generated information on a user's view. It presents the information more intuitively than the legacy interfaces such as paper-based instruction documents. In this paper, an augmented reality platform for photovoltaic pumping system maintenance tasks is proposed. In order to locate the repairer in the working environment and then to overlay the virtual objects, a tracking method is developed. A scenario which takes a user by the hand through maintenance tasks is described. Experiments are conducted in order to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the proposed tracking method. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.