Local installation instructions

Local installation instructions#

Installation#

Conda environment#

Create a new conda environment for hercules:

conda create --name hercules python=3.11
conda activate hercules

Hercules#

If you haven’t already cloned hercules:

git clone https://github.com/NREL/hercules

Then,

pip install -e hercules

Possibly, cd into hercules and switch to the develop branch.

SEAS, Electrolyzer, PySAM, and WHOC#

SEAS#

SEAS is also required for hercules. To install SEAS, use

pip install https://github.com/NREL/SEAS/blob/v1/SEAS.tar.gz?raw=true

If this fails, the following may work instead (but you need permissions):

git clone https://github.nrel.gov/SEAS/SEAS
cd SEAS
git fetch --all
git switch dv/emuwind

Older versions of git (e.g. the one on Eagle) don’t have the switch feature; instead, use

git checkout dv/emuwind

Then,

cd ..
pip install -e SEAS

Electrolyzer#

A python electrolyzer model is also required for hercules. To install the electrolyzer, use

git clone git@github.com:NREL/electrolyzer.git
cd electrolyzer
git fetch --all
git switch develop

Older versions of git (e.g. the one on Eagle) don’t have the switch feature; instead, use

git checkout develop

Then,

cd ..
pip install -e electrolyzer

NREL’s PySAM software is also required for hercules. To install, use

pip install nrel-pysam==6.0.0

PyYAML#

If you run hercules and get an error that pyyaml is missing, you may also need to install it using

conda install -c conda-forge pyyaml

WHOC#

NREL’s Wind Hybrid Open Controller (WHOC) software is used to implement controllers in the Hercules platform. This package is not essential to run Hercules by itself, but is needed to implement any controls in the platform. Example 06 has an example of how this is used to control a battery based on wind farm power output.

To install: Go back to herc_root

git clone git@github.com:NREL/wind-hybrid-open-controller.git
cd wind-hybrid-open-controller
git fetch --all
pip install -e .

Note: if you want the newest updates to the WHOC repository, you can checkout the develop branch instead of the main branch.

Running [Local]#

Using the run scripts#

The simplest way to run hercules is to use the provided run scripts via:

bash run_script.sh

Running manually#

It is recommended to run primarily using the run scripts as they will handle the launching of the various components of the hercules platform. However, if you wish to run manually, referring to the sequence of commands in the run_script.sh file will be helpful to see how to execute various configurations of the platform.

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