In the field of alternative energy and sustainability, optimization type problems are regularly encountered. In this paper, the Hypervolume-driven Analytical Programming (Hyp-AP) approaches were developed. This method was then applied to the multiobjective (MO) design optimization of a real-world photovoltaic (PV)-based solar powered irrigation system. This problem was multivariate, nonlinear and multiobjective. The Hyp-AP method was used to construct the approximate Pareto frontier as well as to identify the best solution option. Some comparative analysis was performed on the proposed method and the approach used in previous work. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013.