DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is in response to Applicant’s submission filed via on 07/14/2025. Claims 14, 16, 19, 23, 25, and 28 have amended; and claims 1-13 and 15 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/14/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that Varma et al. (US 2012/0205981) does not teach “autonomously curtailing real power generation by said inverter based power generation facility to a value below the level of available solar power at that time”.
The examiner respectfully do not agree because Varma et al. clearly discloses autonomously curtailing real power generation by said inverter based power generation facility to a value below the level of available solar power at that time (“The present invention provides a method for utilizing a solar farm inverter as a source of both real and reactive power to support the growth of DG systems. The invention makes use of the fact that the solar farm inverter is unutilized during night-time. Additionally, when the solar farm is not producing power up to its rated generation capacity, the present invention can also be applied during the day-time. For approximately 60% of the day-time (8 hours out of 13 hours of daylight), the solar farm inverter capacity is remains underutilized (i.e. inverter capacity is utilized below 75% of its rated capacity)…” par. [0087]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 14, 16-29, and 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being participated by Varma et al. (US 2012/0205981).
Regarding claim 14, Varma teaches a method for controlling a photovoltaic solar inverter based power generation facility to thereby provide at least one benefit needed by a power system to which said inverter based power generation facility is operatively coupled (see figures 1 and 2; and Abstract and par. [0037-0038], “The solar farm inverter can provide voltage regulation, damping enhancement, stability improvement and other benefits provided by FACTS devices”), the method comprising: (a) autonomously curtailing real power generation by said inverter based power generation facility to a value below the level of available solar power at that time while said at least one benefit is needed by said power system (par. [0087]); (b) at said inverter based power generation facility, autonomously modulating at least one of: (ii) real power and reactive power of said inverter based power generation facility to result in a combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power (par. [0031] and [0131] “combination of the real power generation/absorption together with reactive power generation/absorption”); (c) providing at least one of: (ii) said combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power, from said inverter based power generation facility to said power system to provide said at least one benefit (see Abstract and par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0131]), said at least one benefit being at least one of: (iii) power factor control (par. [0123-0124]); (iv) power oscillation damping (par. [0037], “damping power system oscillations”).
Regarding claim 16, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said method further comprises operating at least one inverter of said photovoltaic solar inverter based power generation facility to use at least a portion of said at least one inverter's capacity to provide combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power (see par. [0031], [0037-0038], [0081] and [0087]; the system utilizes the "entire rating" of the inverter during daytime thereby adjusting the inverter, further, the power adjusted can be any of real, reactive or a combination which accounts for all types of power).
Regarding claim 17, further Varma discloses the method, wherein modulation of said real power is accomplished by increasing or decreasing real power production of said photovoltaic solar inverter based power generation facility within a range of solar power available to said inverter based power generation facility by performing at least one of: ii) varying a power output of at least one solar panel by controlling an output dc voltage of said solar panel (see par. [0037-0038], [0081] and [0087]).
Regarding claim 18, further Varma discloses the method, wherein modulation of said reactive power is dynamic and is accomplished by performing at least one of: (iii) utilizing remaining inverter capacity of at least one inverter after real power modulation (see par. [0031] and [0081]).
Regarding claim 19, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said photovoltaic solar inverter based power generation facility provides at least one of said modulated reactive power, and said combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power to said power system while said power system shows a need for said at least one benefit (see Abstract and par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0131]).
Regarding claim 20, further Varma discloses the method, wherein the method is coordinated with at least one of: iii) locally installed reactive power compensators (see par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0121-0128]).
Regarding claim 21, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said power system is at least one of:- a power transmission system (see figure 1 and par. [0001], “the present invention relates to distributed power generation systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of solar farm inverters and wind turbine generator inverters as Flexible Alternating Current (AC) Transmission Systems (FACTS) controller--static synchronous compensator (STATCOM)”).
Regarding claim 22, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said photovoltaic solar inverter based power generation facility is financially compensated for providing said at least one benefit to said power system, (see par. [0205], “by charging a suitable fee to the operators of wind farm DGs coupled to the transmission system or to the operators of utility companies for increases in the transmission capacity of the transmission system, operators of the solar farm DG can share in the financial benefits of the increased transmission capacity”).
Regarding claim 23, Varma teaches a method for controlling an inverter based power generation facility having an energy storage system to thereby provide at least one benefit when needed by a power system to which said inverter based power generation facility is operatively coupled (see figures 1and 2; and Abstract and par. [0037-0038] and [0128]), the method comprising: (a) autonomously curtailing real power exchanged by said inverter based power generation facility to a value below the existing level of real power exchanged at that time while said at least one benefit is needed by said power system (par. [0087]); (b) at said inverter based power generation facility, autonomously modulating at least one of: (ii) real power and reactive power of said inverter based power generation facility to result in a combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power (par. [0031] and [0131] “combination of the real power generation/absorption together with reactive power generation/absorption”); (c) providing at least one of: (ii) said combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power, from said inverter based power generation facility to said power system to provide said at least one benefit (see Abstract and par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0131]), said at least one benefit being at least one of: (iii) power factor control (see par. [0123-0124]);(iv) power oscillation damping (par. [0037], “damping power system oscillations”).
Regarding claim 24, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said energy storage system includes at least one of: i) a battery energy storage system (par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0121-0128], “improving the system reliability by releasing the stored battery charge during peak load condition and, the real power storage during the charging process helps to regulate the rise in feeder voltage”).
Regarding claim 25, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said method further comprises operating at least one inverter of said inverter based power generation facility to use at least a portion of said at least one inverter's capacity to provide at least one of: said modulated reactive power and said combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power (see Abstract and par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0131]).
Regarding claim 26, further Varma discloses the method, wherein modulation of real power is accomplished by increasing or decreasing an amount of said real power exchanged by said inverter based power generation facility with said power system such that said amount of real power exchanged is within a range of energy stored at that time in said energy storage system and wherein said modulation of real power is accomplished using at least one of: ii) high speed switching mechanisms, (see figure 2; and par. [0091], “the voltage source inverter is realized by utilizing six semiconductor switches (here, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs)”).
Regarding claim 27, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said modulation of reactive power is dynamic and is accomplished by performing at least one of: iii) utilizing remaining inverter capacity of at least one inverter after real power modulation (par. [0031] and [0081]).
Regarding claim 28, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said inverter based power generation facility provides at least one of: said modulated reactive power and said combination of modulated real power and modulated reactive power to said power system while said power system shows a need for said at least one benefit, (see Abstract and par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0131]).
Regarding claim 29, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said method is coordinated with at least one of: iii) locally installed reactive power compensators (par. [0031], [0037-0038] and [0121-0128], improving the system reliability by releasing the stored battery charge during peak load condition and, the real power storage during the charging process helps to regulate the rise in feeder voltage).
Regarding claim 31, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said power system is at least one of: (a) a power transmission system (see figure 1 and par. [0001], “the present invention relates to distributed power generation systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of solar farm inverters and wind turbine generator inverters as Flexible Alternating Current (AC) Transmission Systems (FACTS) controller--static synchronous compensator (STATCOM)”).
Regarding claim 32, further Varma discloses the method, wherein said inverter based power generation facility is financially compensated for providing said at least one benefit to said power system, (par. [0205], “by charging a suitable fee to the operators of wind farm DGs coupled to the transmission system or to the operators of utility companies for increases in the transmission capacity of the transmission system, operators of the solar farm DG can share in the financial benefits of the increased transmission capacity”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Varma et al. and further in view of Mills-Price et al. (US 8,907,615).
Regarding claim 30, Varma teaches the method above, but Varma does not explicitly teach wherein said inverter based power generation facility is operable as a synchronous generator providing an independent voltage and frequency reference for said power system.
Mills-Price teaches wherein said inverter based power generation facility is operable as a synchronous generator providing an independent voltage and frequency reference for said power system, (see Abstract and col. 10, line 66 – col. 11, line 5; “the energy management system may obtain from the grid synchrophasors grid voltage and frequency information and compare the grid voltage and frequency information with reference information to determine if the utility grid is experiencing a disruption, interruption, or other grid condition”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Mills-Price into the method of Varma in order to improve system voltage and frequency stability.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/XUAN LY/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836