pvlib.org - A Community Website to Improve Documentation and Visibility for pvlib

[AdamRJensen]

Project

pvlib-python

Summary

The aim of this project is to create a dedicated community website for the open-source pvlib organization that (1) offers a unified and intuitive entry point, (2) increases visibility of pvlib’s suite of solar modeling tools, and (3) enhances community engagement.

submitter

Adam R. Jensen

project lead

@AdamRJensen

Community benefit

Currently, pvlib’s documentation is spread across multiple package-specific sites with little to no interconnection, making it difficult for users to understand how the various projects relate to one another and function as a cohesive ecosystem. For example, inexperienced users often struggle to have difficulty understanding the distinctions between the various packages and the applications they address. To overcome this, the pvlib maintainers have identified the need for a community website, and have, through targeted efforts, acquired the pvlib.org and pvlib.com domains for this purpose.

The community website site will serve as a central entry point for new users and contributors, offering an overview of the entire pvlib ecosystem of Python packages and clarifying how the different packages relate to one another. One huge benefit is that the documentation sites for the individual packages, will be hosted as sub-domains under the same domain name, making it much easier to navigate the pvlib ecosystem of packages. We anticipate that the new website will significantly boost the project's visibility, a greater adoption of the software, and most importantly, lead to greater utilization of the full functionality due to improved clarity on how the various packages work together. Ultimately, this will result in a much greater scientific impact.

Amount requested

6720

Execution plan

The website’s design and layout will draw inspiration from other successful NumFOCUS projects, most importantly NumPy, to ensure a professional and intuitive user experience. We encourage anyone reading this issue to comment with suggestions or links to other projects from which we can draw inspiration.

To minimize the maintenance burden, the website will be developed using the Python-based Sphinx framework, as these are tools already used by the pvlib maintainer team. The website’s source code will be hosted in a new repository, pvlib.org, under the pvlib GitHub organization. Development will be managed within this repository, with the site built using either GitHub Actions or ReadTheDocs—both of which are already integrated with the pvlib infrastructure.

Early user feedback will be solicited through meetings in the maintainer team, surveys distributed to select users, and GitHub issues to iteratively improve the interface and usability of the site.

To support user adoption and minimize resistance to change, we will implement redirects from old documentation URLs, clearly communicate the changes via mailing lists and GitHub announcements, and provide guidance for navigating the new structure.

We estimate that the development process, including planning, migration documentation from subpackages, design, and reviewing, will require approximately 100 hours.

Notably, the maintainer team has chosen to put this proposal forward for a third time, given that a community website remains of the highest priority and has not yet been funded elsewhere. The scope and description have been adjusted according to feedback received from previous application rounds.

Budget Justification:
Website requirement specification and mock-up: 25 hours
Website development: 95 hours
User feedback sessions and implementing feedback: 20 hours
An hourly rate of $48 is used, which is the current salary rate of the developer in mind (Adam R. Jensen who is a pvlib maintainer).

Total hours: 140

Timeline of deliverables:
August 15: specification of website requirements in collaboration with the maintainer team
September 10: mock-up website discussed with 2-3 core team members and 3-4 selected users in an iterative process
October 10: completion of draft website and request for initial feedback among the greater community
November 10: completion of revised incl. pipeline to generate the static website, soliciting of second round reviews
November 30: public release of website
December 10: delivery of final report