\ PERGAMON Renewable Energy 06 "0888# 274Ð285 9859!0370:88:, ! see front matter Þ 0888 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved PII]S9859!0370"87#99015!7 Data acquisition system for photovoltaic water pumps M[ Benghanem a\ \ A[ Hadj Arab b \ K[ Mukadam c a Institute of Electronics\ University of Sciences and Technolo`y Houari Boumedienne\ BP 21\ El!Alia\ Bab!Ezzouar\ 05000 Al`iers\ Al`eria b Centre de Developpent des Ener`ies Renouvelables\ BP 51\ Route de l|Observatoire\ Bouzareah\ Al`iers\ Al`eria c Departamento de Ener`( as Renovables!CIEMAT[ Avda[ Complutense\ 11 Madrid 17939\ Spain Received 3 December 0886^ accepted 03 May 0887 Abstract In Algeria\ there are several photovoltaic water pumping system "PVWPS# which are situated in remote areas[ Typical problems are detected as sizing of photovoltaic "PV# generator "over! sizing# and maintenance "underestimate# by many operators[ Due to the high cost of setting up and maintaining a large number of data acquisition systems for the PVWPS\ we have developed a real time expert system based on central microcomputer used as a micro!server\ with a low cost[ This paper presents a design of a universal data acquisition system for Algeria with available components and easily accessible with a central server[ This data acquisition system analyses the performance of PVWPS[ The system|s hardware and software architectures and an application to test its performance are described[ Þ 0888 Elsevier Science Ltd[ All rights reserved[ 0[ Introduction Photovoltaic applications in developing countries have the potential to become a major force for social and economic development[ Many isolated sites are not yet connected to the conventional electrical grid and face severe problems of water for domestic consumption and irrigation purposes[ By its large area and its geographical location\ with respect to the solar irradiance\ Algeria is situated among the countries  Corresponding author[ Tel[] ¦99!102!1!66!94!08^ Fax] ¦99!102!1!12!26!28