remove irradiance parameter from ModelChain.run_model and ModelChain.prepare_inputs (#490)

* Addressed Issue #488

* Removed comments related to irradiance parameter

* Updated API section of docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst

Author: alamathe1

docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ v0.6.0 (___, 2018)
 API Changes
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 * pvsystem.calcparams_desoto now requires arguments for each module model parameter.
+* removed irradiance parameter from ModelChain.run_model and ModelChain.prepare_inputs
 
 
 Enhancements
@@ -43,4 +44,5 @@ Contributors
 * Will Holmgren
 * Yu Cao
 * Cliff Hansen
+* Alan Mathew
 

pvlib/modelchain.py

@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ def complete_irradiance(self, times=None, weather=None):
 
         return self
 
-    def prepare_inputs(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
+    def prepare_inputs(self, times=None, weather=None):
         """
         Prepare the solar position, irradiance, and weather inputs to
         the model.
@@ -723,8 +723,6 @@ def prepare_inputs(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
         times : None or DatetimeIndex, default None
             Times at which to evaluate the model. Can be None if
             attribute `times` is already set.
-        irradiance : None or DataFrame
-            This parameter is deprecated. Please use `weather` instead.
         weather : None or DataFrame, default None
             If None, the weather attribute is used. If the weather
             attribute is also None assumes air temperature is 20 C, wind
@@ -747,19 +745,6 @@ def prepare_inputs(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
         if self.weather is None:
             self.weather = pd.DataFrame()
 
-        # The following part could be removed together with the irradiance
-        # parameter at version v0.5 or v0.6.
-        # **** Begin ****
-        wrn_txt = ("The irradiance parameter will be removed soon.\n" +
-                   "Please use the weather parameter to pass a DataFrame " +
-                   "with irradiance (ghi, dni, dhi), wind speed and " +
-                   "temp_air.\n")
-        if irradiance is not None:
-            warnings.warn(wrn_txt, FutureWarning)
-            for column in irradiance.columns:
-                self.weather[column] = irradiance[column]
-        # **** End ****
-
         if times is not None:
             self.times = times
 
@@ -824,7 +809,7 @@ def prepare_inputs(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
             self.weather['temp_air'] = 20
         return self
 
-    def run_model(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
+    def run_model(self, times=None, weather=None):
         """
         Run the model.
 
@@ -833,8 +818,6 @@ def run_model(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
         times : None or DatetimeIndex, default None
             Times at which to evaluate the model. Can be None if
             attribute `times` is already set.
-        irradiance : None or DataFrame
-            This parameter is deprecated. Please use `weather` instead.
         weather : None or DataFrame, default None
             If None, assumes air temperature is 20 C, wind speed is 0
             m/s and irradiation calculated from clear sky data. Column
@@ -852,7 +835,7 @@ def run_model(self, times=None, irradiance=None, weather=None):
         aoi_modifier, spectral_modifier, dc, ac, losses.
         """
 
-        self.prepare_inputs(times, irradiance, weather)
+        self.prepare_inputs(times, weather)
         self.aoi_model()
         self.spectral_model()
         self.effective_irradiance_model()

pvlib/test/test_modelchain.py

@@ -463,21 +463,6 @@ def test_ModelChain___repr__(system, location, strategy, strategy_str):
     assert mc.__repr__() == expected
 
 
-@requires_scipy
-def test_weather_irradiance_input(system, location):
-    """Test will raise a warning and should be removed in future versions."""
-    mc = ModelChain(system, location)
-    times = pd.date_range('2012-06-01 12:00:00', periods=2, freq='H')
-    i = pd.DataFrame({'dni': [2, 3], 'dhi': [4, 6], 'ghi': [9, 5]}, index=times)
-    w = pd.DataFrame({'wind_speed': [11, 5], 'temp_air': [30, 32]}, index=times)
-    mc.run_model(times, irradiance=i, weather=w)
-
-    assert_series_equal(mc.weather['dni'],
-                        pd.Series([2, 3], index=times, name='dni'))
-    assert_series_equal(mc.weather['wind_speed'],
-                        pd.Series([11, 5], index=times, name='wind_speed'))
-
-
 @requires_scipy
 def test_complete_irradiance_clean_run(system, location):
     """The DataFrame should not change if all columns are passed"""