v0.6.0.rst

v0.6.0 (2025-08-13)

Breaking Changes

• Update dependency requirements: - pvlib-python: was ==0.10.3, now >=0.12.0 - numpy: was ==1.26.4, now >1.19.3 - scipy: was <1.14.0, now >1.6.0 (:issue:`103`, :pull:`163`)

• Remove deprecated vertical_poa function from pysam.py and related (incorrect) reference to standards.vertical_poa in geospatial.py. (:issue:`167`, :pull:`174`)

• Replaced ambiguous variable name l in :py:func`pvdeg.collection.collection_probability` with diffusion_length to enhance code readability and maintainability. (:issue:`198`, :pull:`199`)

• Replace print messages for failure or succesful addition of objects (location, job...) with try/except blocks and warnings in :py:mod:`~pvdeg.scenario`. (:pull:`192`)

• Remove deprecated pvdeg.store module. (:issue:`168`, :pull:`180`)

• Refactored and cleaned up :py:mod:pvdeg.humiditiy by removing unused functions, improving docstrings, and standardizing physical constants. Full details are as follows:

  • Remove unused helper function _ambient()
  • Remove _diffusivity_numerator() and _diffusivity_denominator() helper functionsby refactoring them into _diffusivity_weighted_water()
  • Remove legacy comments and commented out code
  • Clean and streamlined docstrings, for example removing redundant docstring from helper functions
  • Improve function docstrings
  • Introduce a module level constant R_GAS for the universal gas constant and replaced all hardcoded instances of the gas constant (0.00831446261815324) with R_GAS
  • Add Ead argument to front_encapsulant to enable user to specify custom material fully, previous behaviour enforced the Ead value for EVA material
  • Improve argument handling in front_encapsulant to include check for presence of Ead. (:issue:`202`, :pull:`212`)

• Rename several variable and function names in :py:mod:`pvdeg.humidity` to improve code clarity and maintainability. Full details are as follows:

  • Variable psat and function psat() to water_saturation_pressure
  • Variable avg_psat to avg_water_saturation_pressure
  • Variable surface_outside to surface_relative
  • Variable RHfront_series to front_encapsulant
  • Variable t to backsheet_thickness
  • Function front_encap() to front_encapsulant
  • Function Ce() to back_encapsulant_water_concentration
  • Function back_encap to back_encapsulant

  (:issue:`213`, :issue:`233`, :pull:`224`, :pull:`236`)

Enhancements

• Change GeospatialScenario.get_geospatial_data() to a @property, now use

GeospatialScenario.geospatial_data - Change GeospatialScenario.coords_tonumpy() to a @property, now use GeospatialScenario.coords - Refactor META_MAP in :py:mod:`pvdeg.weather` to module-level constant

(:pull:`182`)

• Update pytest workflow to cancel in-progress runs for the same branch in favour of running on the latest commit. (:pull:`191`)

• Add support for pandas dataframes to :py:mod:`pvdeg.weather.map_meta()` (:pull:`193`)

• Add a new GitHub Actions workflow to automatically run flake8 for linting on pull requests (:issue:`164`, :pull:`165`)

• Lint codebase for PEP8 compliance (:pull:`166`, :pull:`175`, :pull:`196`)

• Change default for find_meta argument in :py:func:`pvdeg.weather.read` to False to avoid unnecessary network calls when reading local files. (:pull:`223`)

• Add "name", "units", and "value" fields to the materials JSON databases AApermeation.json, H2Opermeation.json, and O2permeation.json. (:issue:`211`, :pull:`224`)

• Add new (public) function :py:mod:`pvdeg.humidity` to calculate relative humidity from air temperature and dew point temperature. (:issue:`227`, :pull:`228`)

• :py:func:`pvdeg.humidity.back_encapsulant_water_concentration` and :py:func:`pvdeg.humidity.module` now raise ValueError if back_encap_thickness or backsheet_thickness is None, and no value is available in the specified material from the database. (:issue:`237`, :pull:`238`)

• Remove "materials.json" and all associated references. Users should now use the "O2_permeation.json" database for oxygen permeation data. (:issue:`240`, :pull:`243`)

• Remove private function pvdeg.utilities_read_material and replace all usage with the existing public function :py:func:`pvdeg.utilities.read_material()` for improved API clarity and maintainability. (:issue:`256`, :pull:`257`)

• Refactor material database access: separate functionality into two distinct public functions:

  • :py:func:`pvdeg.utilities.read_material` returns the full material dictionary, including metadata
  • :py:func:`pvdeg.utilities.read_material_property` returns a flattened dictionary of parameter values for computation.

  This change clarifies the distinction between retrieving raw material data and extracting parameter values for use in calculations. (:issue:`256`, :pull:`257`)

• Update pre-commit hooks and add github workflow (:pull:`267`)

Deprecations

• GeospatialScenario._get_geospatial_data()
• GeospatialScenario.getValidRegions()
• GeospatialScenario.gids_tonumpy()
• GeospatialScenario.gids_tolist()
• Deprecate see_added argument, and associated UserWarning for succesful addition of objects, in several :py:mod:`~pvdeg.scenario` functions. (:pull:`192`)

Bug Fixes

• v0.5.0 incorrectly claimed that GeospatialScenario was moved to pvdeg/geospatialscenario.py. Completed the move.
• Code cleanup and standardization in :py:mod:`pvdeg.degradation` module: - Improve readability of mathematical expressions - Refactor redundant helper functions - Update docstrings - Remove unused functions and variables - Improve code consistency (:issue:`177`, :pull:`178`)
• Clean up and fix bugs in notebooks. (:issue:`179`, :pull:`184`)
• Resolves non-deterministic source ambiguity when picking NSRDB TMY files from Kestrel when using weather.get(..., TMY=True, geospatial=True). - PVDeg will always use the most recent version. - Added new kestrel_nsrdb_fnames attribute to returned weather dataset for traceability.

Dependencies

• Update aiohttp from 3.10.11 to 3.12.14 for improved security and performance (:pull:`185`)
• Update NREL-PySAM dependency from 5.1.0 to the newest version to leverage latest features and improvements. (:issue:`254`, :pull:`255`)

Testing

• Added nbval-based notebook testing workflow to CI for validating tutorial and example notebooks (:issue:`179`, :pull:`184`)
• Add tests for :py:func:`pvdeg.weather.get`. (pull:249)

Contributors

• Rajiv Daxini (:ghuser:`RDaxini`)
• Tobin Ford (:ghuser:`tobin-ford`)
• Maxx Millstein (:ghuser:`maxx-mill`)
• Mike Kempe (:ghuser:`MDKempe`)
• Martin Springer (:ghuser:`martin-springer`)