diff --git a/docs/sphinx/source/installation.rst b/docs/sphinx/source/installation.rst
index 3f7d19b581..f2a6b7a5d0 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/source/installation.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/source/installation.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ non-editable way, use one of the following commands to install pvlib-python::
     # best option if you know what you are doing
     pip install pvlib
 
+    # get pvlib and optional dependencies from the Python Package Index
+    # another option if you know what you are doing
+    pip install pvlib[optional]
+
 If your system complains that you don't have access privileges or asks
 for a password then you're probably trying to install pvlib into your
 system's Python distribution. This is usually a bad idea and you should
@@ -163,9 +167,9 @@ referred to as *conda environments*, but they're the same for our purposes.
 #. **Create** a new conda environment for pvlib and pre-install
    the required packages into the environment:
    ``conda create --name pvlibdev python pandas scipy``
-#. **Activate** the new conda environment: ``source activate pvlibdev``
+#. **Activate** the new conda environment: ``conda activate pvlibdev``
 #. **Install** additional packages into your development environment:
-   ``conda install jupyter ipython matplotlib seaborn pytest nose flake8``
+   ``conda install jupyter ipython matplotlib pytest nose flake8``
 
 The `conda documentation <https://conda.io/docs/index.html>`_ has more
 information on how to use conda virtual environments. You can also add
@@ -181,10 +185,12 @@ Good news -- installing the source code is the easiest part!
 With your conda/virtual environment still active...
 
 #. **Install** pvlib-python in "development mode" by running
-   ``pip install -e /path/to/your/pvlib-python``.
-   You remember this path from the clone step, right? It's probably
-   something like ``C:\Users\%USER%\Documents\GitHub\pvlib-python``
-   (Windows) or ``/Users/%USER%/Documents/pvlib-python`` (Mac).
+   ``pip install -e .`` from within the directory you previously cloned.
+   Consider installing pvlib using ``pip install -e .[all]`` so that
+   you can run the unit tests and build the documentation.
+   Your clone directory is probably similar to
+   ``C:\Users\%USER%\Documents\GitHub\pvlib-python``(Windows) or
+   ``/Users/%USER%/Documents/pvlib-python`` (Mac).
 #. **Test** your installation by running ``python -c 'import pvlib'``.
    You're good to go if it returns without an exception.
 
@@ -229,6 +235,11 @@ include:
 
 The Anaconda distribution includes most of the above packages.
 
+Alternatively, users may install all optional dependencies using
+
+    pip install pvlib[optional]
+
+
 .. _nrelspa:
 
 NREL SPA algorithm
diff --git a/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst b/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst
index a7457a6487..14a9ee4df4 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.6.0.rst
@@ -117,8 +117,13 @@ Enhancements
 * Add irradiance.clearness_index_zenith_independent function. (:issue:`396`)
 * Add checking for consistency between module_parameters and dc_model. (:issue:`417`)
 * Add DC model methods ``'desoto'`` and ``'pvsyst'`` to ModelChain (:issue:`487`)
-* Add the CEC module model in `pvsystem.calcparams_cec` and `ModelChain.cec`. (:issue:`463`) 
+* Add the CEC module model in `pvsystem.calcparams_cec` and `ModelChain.cec`. (:issue:`463`)
 * Add DC model methods desoto and pvsyst to ModelChain (:issue:`487`)
+* pvlib now ships with a pvlib[optional] installation option to automatically
+  install packages needed to support additional pvlib features:
+  ``pip install pvlib[optional]``. Additional installation options include
+  `doc` (requirements for minimal documentation build), `test` (requirements
+  for testing), and `all` (optional + doc + test). (:issue:`553`, :issue:`483`)
 * Set default alpha to 1.14 in :func:`~pvlib.atmosphere.angstrom_aod_at_lambda` (:issue:`563`)
 
 
diff --git a/readthedocs.yml b/readthedocs.yml
index e86f8376d8..df675e2a79 100644
--- a/readthedocs.yml
+++ b/readthedocs.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-conda:
-    file: docs/environment.yml
 python:
-    version: 2
-    setup_py_install: true
\ No newline at end of file
+    version: 3
+    use_system_site_packages: true
+    pip_install: true
+    extra_requirements:
+        - all
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 2119b9ef5c..f37f872230 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -42,7 +42,14 @@
                     'pytz',
                     'six',
                     ]
-TESTS_REQUIRE = ['pytest', 'nose']
+TESTS_REQUIRE = ['pytest', 'pytest-cov', 'pytest-mock', 'nose']
+EXTRAS_REQUIRE = {
+    'optional': ['scipy', 'tables', 'numba', 'siphon', 'netcdf4', 'ephem'],
+    'doc': ['sphinx', 'ipython', 'sphinx_rtd_theme', 'numpydoc',
+            'matplotlib'],
+    'test': TESTS_REQUIRE
+}
+EXTRAS_REQUIRE['all'] = sorted(set(sum(EXTRAS_REQUIRE.values(), [])))
 
 CLASSIFIERS = [
     'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@
       cmdclass=versioneer.get_cmdclass(),
       packages=PACKAGES,
       install_requires=INSTALL_REQUIRES,
+      extras_require=EXTRAS_REQUIRE,
       tests_require=TESTS_REQUIRE,
       ext_modules=extensions,
       description=DESCRIPTION,