Proposal talk:Power type

Combining is bad

cogeneration and trigeneration are bad values. What you shall do when you'll tag heat-only generator? or when engineers will discover another trinity of power types? --Surly

It would be better to divide values with ";" or tag then with the indidividual keys: "power_type=electrical;heat" or "power_type:electrical=yes + power_type:heat=yes"

I thought that the use of a semi-colon was generally frowned upon? A heat-only generator is simply tagged "power_type=heat". Cogeneration and trigeneration are generally accepted terms in the energy world, meaning (respectively) "heat and electricity" and "heat, cooling and electricity". See this Wikipedia page for more info. TomChance 18:54, 16 August 2010 (BST)

NAFAIK. Semi-colons are documented, necessary (given some of the strange tagging schemes), and used. Renderers and editors are being slow to adopt, but that's not (supposed to be) relevant.

I would prefer power_output=electricity[;steam][;...] (key more specific than power_type, values more widely understood than jargon). AM909 20:26, 16 August 2010 (BST)

OK, you've convinced me, I will update the proposal TomChance 11:28, 17 August 2010 (BST)

A heat-only generator is simply tagged "power_type=heat" -- No. When I say "heat-only" I mean a combination of heat+cooling. Yes, it isn't related to electricity, but to heat enegry. With such abstraction we can tag heat generators with the same tags as electric generators. Abstraction is good. --Surly 15:19, 17 August 2010 (BST)

Sematic of power_source=solar-thermal

I think you misunderstood the meaning of power_source=solar-thermal. This tag describes a power station which creates heat from concentrating solar energy and uses the heat to create electrical power by water vapor, conventional turbines and electrical generators.

The tag power_source=photovoltaic describes a power station which uses solar moduls to create electrical power directly from light by the photoelectric effect. Two different ways for the same effect.

Your replacement of power_source=solar-thermal by power_source=solar and power_type=heat describes only an heat supply station but not an electrical power station (which is indended). Adjuva 21:23, 16 August 2010 (BST)

Similarly, changing power_source=photovoltaic to power_source=solar+power_type=electricity is a poor choice, since it loses the important distinction that the method of generation is photovoltaic. How about:

Old value	New tagging
power_source=photovoltaic	power_source=solar power_method=photovoltaic power_output=electricity
power_source=solar-thermal	power_source=solar power_method=thermal power_output=electricity

To preserve the original meaning of photovoltaic (a method of producing electricity directly from light) and solar-thermal (a method of producing electricity from material heated by the sun). Ralmin 01:19, 17 August 2010 (BST)

That looks like a useful extension of my proposal. As I noted on the tagging mailing list, this actually highlights why "photovoltaic" and "solar-thermal" are confusing, because in the UK "solar thermal" is generally assumed to mean "a flat panel or evacuated tubes through which water is pumped to be heated by the sun, providing warm/hot water". The meaning of "solar thermal" described by Adjuva is not typical here, probably because we are too far north to produce such intense amounts of heat with solar energy. TomChance 11:26, 17 August 2010 (BST)