Software hints#
Tools we are using#
The complete list of software needed for work with PyPSA Earth is listed below.
Python#
Python 3 is used as our main programming language, thus its knowledge is mandatory.
To refresh your knowledge, you may use plenty of online courses free-of-charge, e.g. CSDojo playlist. Useful content to watch refer to numpy and pandas.
Conda#
In order to use packages in python, it is highly recommended to use a conda package manager, such as Anaconda
You may check if conda is already installed on your system with conda -V. In case it’s not we recommend to install miniconda, which is a mini version of Anaconda and includes only conda and its dependencies.
For instructions for your operating system follow the conda installation guide.
We recommend to install mamba in conda base environment as that makes dependencies management much faster.
Useful hints on installing Anaconda and setting up Ubuntu terminal with VSCode in Windows is available here.
There are many things which could go wrong with conda. This article provides you a crystal clear explanation of conda (excellent read).
Git#
Git is a free open source system aimed at tracking changes in the code development and enable to coordinate the parallel software development between many developers.
It is highly recommended to learn the git basics.
Solvers#
Useful instructions of installation and setup:
Integrated Development Environment#
In order to write and debug python code, you need an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is a software used to write code. We recommend Visual Studio Code, which is freely available online and provides an easy to use interface with Git. Obviously, any alternatives like PyCharm or Sublime will work as well.
System requirements#
Building the model with the scripts in this repository runs on a normal computer with 8-16 GB RAM. Depending of the region of interest, different amounts of storage (HHD/SSD) are required. Model of Africa requires about 40 Gb, the world 250 Gb, a single country between 1-10 Gb. We have also prepared a tutorial which should be below 10Gb.