Too many solar panels as POIs on the map?

[A Thompson]

Any thoughts on this? I was wondering if I should raise it on Github.

In some parts of England, at zoom levels >=16, the map is very cluttered with symbols for domestic photovoltaic solar panels on house roofs, and the only way to get rid of them is ConfigureMap>Hide>"POI Icons" which is a shame because you loose all the other useful ones too:

The maps are getting very large - England alone is 1752 MB (i.e. without Wales or Scotland). I wonder if including fewer solar panels would be beneficial both to reduce clutter and file size. I can see why the data in OSM could be useful for analysis with GIS tools, but not why solar panels that aren't a major farm should be in OsmAnd's map.

Doing some tests with Overpass Turbo, in England the following are tagged with "generation:source=solar":

106631 nodes

13043 ways

182 relations

If I filter out those also tagged with location=roof or location=rooftop, I get:

11078 nodes

8551 ways

44 relations

Tagging is inconsistent, and I guess that most of these nodes are still  insignificant panels on rooftops. So my suggestion would be to include in OsmAnd maps only ways and relations not tagged with location=roof or location=rooftop, and no solar panel nodes at all.

Thoughts, anyone?

[Greg Troxel]

A Thompson <thomp...@gmail.com> writes:

> In some parts of England, at zoom levels >=16, the map is very cluttered
> with symbols for domestic photovoltaic solar panels on house roofs, and the
> only way to get rid of them is ConfigureMap>Hide>"POI Icons" which is a
> shame because you loose all the other useful ones too:
>
> [image: Screenshot_20191125-233449_OsmAnd+.jpg]
> The maps are getting very large - England alone is 1752 MB (i.e. without
> Wales or Scotland). I wonder if including fewer solar panels would be
> beneficial both to reduce clutter and file size. I can see why the data in
> OSM could be useful for analysis with GIS tools, but not why solar panels
> that aren't a major farm should be in OsmAnd's map.

I suspect that the clutter issue is important and the file size impact
not so much.

My approach (were I to work on this which I'm not :-) would be to figure
out how to tell ifa given generation:source=solar is important or not,
perhaps by saying nodes are not and the way that big installations are
tagged is, and then to change the rendering config to render them only
when zoomed really far in (i.e., if a house is 200 pixels by 200 pixels,
then the icon is probably ok). This could end up being based on
feature size and declaring that nodes are to be treated as if 5m x 5m.

> Doing some tests with Overpass Turbo, in England the following are tagged
> with "generation:source=solar":
>
> 106631 nodes
>
> 13043 ways
>
> 182 relations
>
> If I filter out those also tagged with location=roof or location=rooftop, I
> get:
>
> 11078 nodes
>
> 8551 ways
>
> 44 relations

The problem is that being on a roof does not make it minor, and to me
the real goal is to show it when the actual feature is large relative to
the zoom level.

> Tagging is inconsistent, and I guess that most of these nodes are still
> insignificant panels on rooftops. So my suggestion would be to include in
> OsmAnd maps only ways and relations not tagged with location=roof or
> location=rooftop, and no solar panel nodes at all.
>
> Thoughts, anyone?

That is reasonable, as is including the nodes and only showing them at z19

[Harry van der Wolf]

Hi,

You state: "and the only way to get rid of them is ConfigureMap>Hide>"POI Icons" which is a shame because you loose all the other useful ones too:"

This is not true. You can create filters on POI groups and inside POI groups. I use those filters as well as some POIs I don't care about at all.

There is an issue in the current 3.x versions though (I filed an issue for it and it will be fixed in one of the future versions).

If you go to "Configure Map" -> "POI overlay", you can select which POI group you want to see, but you can no longer select your own created filter(s).

If you go to "Search"-> "Categories", you can define your own filters. Once created you can use these inside the  "Configure Map" -> "POI overlay"

Harry

Op di 26 nov. 2019 om 02:23 schreef Greg Troxel <g...@lexort.com>:

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[Alessandro Sarretta]

Hi Harry,

On 26/11/19 13:01, Harry van der Wolf wrote:
> Hi,
>
> You state: "and the only way to get rid of them is
> ConfigureMap>Hide>"POI Icons" which is a shame because you loose all
> the other useful ones too:"
>
> This is not true. You can create filters on POI groups and inside POI
> groups. I use those filters as well as some POIs I don't care about at
> all.

when I click the Hide option, I see only the following types:
Boundaries, Polygons, Buildings, House numbers, Proposed objects, POI
icons, POI labels, Underground objects, Overground objects.

Are you saying that you can further customize these objects or reuse
coustom filters you created? How are you doing that?

Thanks,

Ale

[Harry van der Wolf]

Hi,

you FIRST have to create the custom filter in Search. I switched my OsmAnd to English for the screenshots.

Go to Search, tab  Categories (see image OsmandSearch.png)

Select one or more of the categories (Image Create_customfilterOverview.png), or open a category to only select specific items from that category (Image CategoryWithItems.png)

Image CategoryWithItems.png

And finally display on the map (Show custom filter on the Map) or first Save it (button in bottom-right) the Custom Filter with a relevant name (image ShowSaveCustomfilter.png)

From that moment on you can use your custom filter(s)  in the POI selection screen where your custom filter only contains a combination of Christmas trees, Sea wrecks, petrol stations, police stations, libraries and campings.  (for example)

Or whatever strange selection you want to make.

Harry

Op di 26 nov. 2019 om 13:26 schreef Alessandro Sarretta <alessandr...@gmail.com>:

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[Harry van der Wolf]

There is also a short section on the Osmand.net website in the Features sections:  https://osmand.net/features/find-something-on-map#Find_Points_of_Interest_A

It starts with "The POI search filters.".

Harry

Op di 26 nov. 2019 om 14:38 schreef Harry van der Wolf <hvd...@gmail.com>:

[Peter B]

Harry,
I also use custom search for DISPLAYING single poi categories or a combination of them, which are shown with theese bigger orange circles.
But you write:
> I use those filters as well as some POIs *I don't care about at all*.
If I understand you right, it is also possible to prevent "internal" pois of maps from beeing shown.
So this is what A Thomson wants: preventing one of the poi categories from beeing shown.
Do I understand *him* right and
Do I understand *you* right?
I'm a bit confused..-
Peter

[Harry van der Wolf]

Hi Peter,

You are right (when it comes to full maps).

On full maps the "internal POIs" are always displayed, like supermarkets (purple), hospitals (red cross), restaurants (brown) and others. I had not realised that, but indeed: they are always displayed!

In the past that was not the case. Each of them belongs to a certain POI category and could be displayed, or not. Now they are always displayed, even if I completely switch off POIs (hide them).

If I only have in my custom filter to show "danger of avalanche" (from Danger) and "BMX" (from Sports), then only these 2 POIs should be displayed on the Map. (note that I never used these, but I now created that filter)

In my car on my 10.1" Android head unit (not a phone), I only use roads-only maps. There it works like I explained. If I switch off POIs, I don't see POIs.

If I select a certain category, I do see that category.

If I select one of my filters, I only see those POIs.

There is one exception (bug?) on roads-only maps as well: I always see bus stations (when zoomed in enough). Actually I don't want these either in my car on my roads-only maps. I don't need those in my car (except when my car breaks down :( )

But maybe this is a design decision. Something like: Roads-only maps are used for driving and transportation.

But it does not work like that on the full maps. I always see a certain amount of "internal POIs" (like you call them).

(I use the full map of the Netherlands on my phone for walking and cycling.)

I think we have to file this as a bug. Maybe the DEV team decides differently, but we will see.

Harry

Op di 26 nov. 2019 om 17:24 schreef Peter B <pebo...@gmail.com>:

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[A Thompson]

On full maps the "internal POIs" are always displayed, like supermarkets (purple), hospitals (red cross), restaurants (brown) and others. I had not realised that, but indeed: they are always displayed!

In the past that was not the case. Each of them belongs to a certain POI category and could be displayed, or not. Now they are always displayed, even if I completely switch off POIs (hide them).

Hang on... these "internal" POIs can be turned off with "Configure Map">Hide>"POI Icons". This is different to "Configure Map">"POI Overlay" ON/OFF which controls the display of POI searches. 

I personally like seeing the "internal" POI Icons, but don't want to see every single solar panel on a roof when doing so!

Thanks to all for the excellent comments so far.