pvlib
A set of functions and classes for simulating the performance of photovoltaic energy systems.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low installation friction, carries a permissive BSD-3-Clause license, and has no known security vulnerabilities. It is well-suited for anyone working with photovoltaic system modeling, simulation, or solar energy analysis.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later
- Low friction installation with six well-established runtime dependencies.
- Active maintenance with a recent release 59 days ago and continuous repository activity.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.
last release 2026-06-16 (59 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-10 · 1,637 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,644,240 downloads/mo, #3,694 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pvlib
import pvlib
# Access PV modeling functions and classes for system simulation- Whether the package supports real-time system monitoring or only historical/simulation-based analysis
- Specific PV system types or configurations the package can model
- Performance benchmarks or accuracy validation against real-world systems
What it is and what it does
pvlib is a community-developed toolbox for simulating photovoltaic energy system performance. It provides open, reliable, and interoperable implementations of PV system models built on numpy, pandas, scipy, and related scientific Python libraries. The package originated as a Python translation of MATLAB_PV_LIB from Sandia National Laboratories in 2013 and has grown to include contributions from over a hundred individuals worldwide.
The package is used for modeling solar energy systems, accessing solar irradiance data, and performing PV-related calculations and analysis. It depends on numpy for numerical computation, pandas for data handling, scipy for scientific functions, h5py for HDF5 file access, requests for data retrieval, and pytz for timezone handling. It is actively maintained by a core group of PV modelers and is a NumFOCUS Affiliated Project.
Use it for
- Simulate expected energy output from a proposed photovoltaic installation before deployment
- Access and process solar irradiance data from public sources for site analysis
- Model the performance of existing PV systems to identify degradation or operational issues
- Develop and test new PV modeling algorithms in a standardized, peer-reviewed framework
- Integrate PV performance predictions into energy management or grid planning tools
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has low installation friction, carries a permissive BSD-3-Clause license, and has no known security vulnerabilities. It is well-suited for anyone working with photovoltaic system modeling, simulation, or solar energy analysis.
Install
pvlib on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with six well-established runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with a recent release 59 days ago and continuous repository activity.
Requires Python 3.10 or later
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.
Quickstart
pip install pvlib
import pvlib
# Access PV modeling functions and classes for system simulationVerify before relying
- Whether the package supports real-time system monitoring or only historical/simulation-based analysis
- Specific PV system types or configurations the package can model
- Performance benchmarks or accuracy validation against real-world systems
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 6 packagesnumpypandaspytzrequestsscipyh5py |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 59 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,644,240 / month, #3,694 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Scientific/Engineering |
Evidence: pvlib-0.15.2-py3-none-any.whl
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