Kenya's Only Integrated Water & Solar Company
Most companies in Kenya do either water or solar. Vajra Drill does both — and that difference matters enormously for the quality and cost of your project.
When you source your borehole drilling from one contractor, your pump from a second, and your solar panels from a third, you get three sets of warranties, three points of blame if something fails, and three separate designs that may not work optimally together. Our integrated approach eliminates all of that. We design the water system and the solar energy system as a single, optimised solution — with one team accountable for the entire outcome.
This is particularly powerful for the applications where water and solar genuinely belong together: solar-powered borehole pumps, solar irrigation schemes, off-grid rural water supply, and community water-energy projects. In each case, a correctly integrated design delivers higher reliability, lower lifecycle cost, and a simpler user experience than any combination of separately procured components.
Our Integrated Solution Packages
Two integrated solution lines cover the complete spectrum — from a simple solar borehole on a farm to a fully engineered community water-energy scheme.
Complete Water-Solar Projects
Fully turnkey projects combining borehole drilling, pump installation, solar array, storage tanks, water treatment, and distribution pipework — delivered as a single contract with one design, one installation team, and one performance guarantee. Ideal for farms, schools, hospitals, NGOs, and rural communities.
View Complete Projects →Solar Borehole Systems
A borehole drilled and equipped with a DC or AC solar submersible pump, matched solar array, MPPT controller, and storage tank — eliminating mains electricity and fuel costs for water pumping entirely. We size the solar panel array to the pump's hydraulic requirements so the system delivers full daily output on any sunny day without oversizing or undersizing.
Solar Irrigation & Water Supply Combos
For farms requiring both a water supply and crop irrigation, we combine a solar-powered borehole or dam intake pump with a drip or sprinkler irrigation distribution network and a solar power system for the farm manager's house or packhouse. A single integrated design, one mobilisation, significantly lower project cost than a split procurement.
Community & Institutional Water-Energy Schemes
Designed for schools, health centres, mission hospitals, water kiosks, and NGO-funded rural water projects. We design integrated schemes that provide potable water from a treated borehole and reliable solar electricity to power the pump, chlorination unit, lights, and basic medical or computing equipment — from a single investment, with minimal operational requirement.
How an Integrated Water-Solar Project Works
Our integrated delivery process starts with a single site visit and ends with a fully commissioned water and energy system — here is every step.
- 1Combined Needs Assessment
One site visit covers both disciplines — water demand, borehole feasibility, available land, shading, roof area, existing electrical infrastructure, and regulatory requirements. We produce a single combined brief covering both water and energy.
- 2Hydrogeological Survey & Solar Assessment
Geophysical surveys (VES/ERT) identify the optimal drilling location and estimate aquifer depth. Simultaneously, our solar engineer assesses the site for panel placement, irradiance, and optimal system type — grid-tied, off-grid, or hybrid.
- 3Integrated System Design & Proposal
We produce a single, coordinated design document covering the borehole spec, pump selection, solar array size, storage tank capacity, water treatment requirement, and electrical distribution — with a unified cost plan, energy and water yield projections, and payback analysis.
- 4Permitting & Regulatory Compliance
We handle WRA drilling permit and abstraction licence applications, REREC solar system registration, and any local authority or NEMA approvals simultaneously — avoiding the sequential delays that occur when work is split between separate contractors.
- 5Drilling, Civil Works & Solar Installation
Our drilling rig and solar installation crew mobilise together, sequencing borehole drilling, casing, pump installation, civil works for tanks and foundations, and solar panel and inverter installation in the most efficient order — minimising site time and disruption.
- 6Commissioning, Testing & Handover
Both systems are commissioned together — borehole pump output is verified against design, solar array performance is confirmed at IEC 62446 standard, water quality is laboratory-tested, and the complete integrated system is handed over with unified O&M documentation, warranties, and operator training.
Why Integrate Water and Solar?
Eliminate Pump Running Costs Completely
A solar-powered borehole pump has zero fuel cost and negligible maintenance. The pump runs on free solar energy every day the sun shines — no KPLC bills, no diesel deliveries, no generator servicing. Over a 20-year period this represents an extraordinary saving compared to any grid or diesel-powered alternative.
One Contractor, One Warranty
When Vajra Drill designs and installs the entire system — borehole, pump, solar, and storage — responsibility for the outcome rests with a single party. If the water output is lower than designed or the solar yield falls short, there is no dispute between separate contractors. We own the performance guarantee entirely.
Optimal System Sizing
Pump power requirement and solar array output must match for peak efficiency. When we design both, we can right-size the solar array precisely to the hydraulic demand of the pump — avoiding costly oversizing or frustrating undersizing that occurs when the two systems are designed independently.
Lower Total Project Cost
A single mobilisation, shared civil works, combined project management, and bulk procurement of equipment all reduce the total cost compared to procuring water and solar separately. For NGO and government projects, this also simplifies procurement documentation and contract management significantly.
Sectors We Serve with Integrated Solutions
Our integrated water-solar packages are deployed across a broad range of sectors in Kenya — each with unique requirements that benefit from a coordinated approach.
Farms & Ranches
Solar borehole pumps for livestock watering and crop irrigation with zero running costs. Combined with solar power for workshop and farmhouse electricity.
Schools & Colleges
Borehole water supply with solar pump and roof-mounted solar power for classrooms, laboratories, and dormitories — eliminating both water costs and electricity bills.
Health Centres & Hospitals
Potable borehole water with treatment, solar power for medical equipment and lighting — reliable energy and water supply critical for healthcare delivery in rural and peri-urban areas.
Rural Communities & NGO Projects
Water kiosk schemes where a solar-powered borehole pumps treated water to a distribution kiosk serving a village or estate — with no ongoing energy cost for the operator.
Lodges & Eco-Resorts
Off-grid lodges in remote game parks and bush locations where a borehole provides water and a solar-battery system provides electricity — complete energy and water independence from a single project.
Government Institutions
Water supply and solar power for administrative offices, prisons, police posts, and public market facilities — reducing recurrent expenditure on utilities under a single turnkey contract.
Industrial & Manufacturing Sites
Process water from a borehole combined with a rooftop industrial solar installation — reducing two major operating cost lines simultaneously under one engineering contract.
Horticultural & Flower Farms
Borehole water, solar irrigation pump, drip system, and solar power for the packhouse and cold room — a complete farm water-energy solution from one design and one contractor.
Integrated Solutions FAQs
Using one contractor removes the risk of mismatched equipment sizing, eliminates disputes between suppliers when something fails, simplifies project management, and typically reduces total cost through shared mobilisation and civil works. Most importantly, you have a single party accountable for the complete water and energy performance of the system.
Yes, when correctly designed. Kenya has excellent solar irradiance year-round — even in cloudy periods, a correctly sized solar array produces sufficient energy. We combine a properly sized storage tank (typically 1–3 days' demand capacity) with the solar pump so that water is available 24 hours a day regardless of whether the sun is currently shining.
In most cases yes. We assess the existing borehole yield data and the current pump specifications, then design a solar array and controller system to match. In some cases the existing pump needs to be replaced with a DC or AC solar-compatible model. We can also add solar power to pump electricity costs even if the pump itself is not solar-direct — reducing your KPLC bills significantly.
Yes. We have extensive experience delivering water and solar projects for NGOs, faith-based organisations, county governments, and donor-funded programmes. We provide full project documentation including BOQs, technical specifications, completion reports, and financial summaries in the format required by funders. We can also work directly with international procurement frameworks when required.
Project costs vary significantly depending on borehole depth, water demand, pump size, solar array capacity, tank volume, and treatment requirements. A simple solar borehole for a domestic or small farm application typically starts from KES 350,000–600,000. A complete community water-solar scheme for a school or health centre ranges from KES 1.2M–4M. We provide detailed itemised quotations after a free site assessment — contact us for a no-obligation proposal.