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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 15-17 have been withdrawn due to a previously provided restriction requirement. Claims 2-3 have been canceled. Applicant elected Group I which includes claims 1, 4-14, and 18-19. Claims 1, 4-14, and 18-19 are pending. Claims 1, 4-14, and 18-19 have been examined and rejected.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 7/22/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues that the latitude and longitude, which are position North/South as taught by Wachman represent geographic coordinates used to specify a unique location on Earth’s surface not “image coordinates being x-y position selected by the use on the image displayed on the display” as claimed, see p. 10 ¶ 4 – p. 11. The Applicant says that The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim language says “image coordinates corresponding to points on the image.” The phrase “image coordinates corresponding to points on the image” does not require to be coordinates of the points on the image, but it can be any coordinates assigned to the points on the image. Furthermore, claim 1 further recites “the image coordinates being x-y positions selected by the user on the image displayed.” This recitation does not require that the positions be on the image, but that the positions are selected on the image. The broadest reasonable interpretation encompasses latitude-longitude coordinates. In addition, Wachman in ¶ 0060-0061 also teaches a touch panel 530 to indicate X-Y positions of a point on the panel.
The Applicant, moreover, argues that McClure and Wachman do not teach “defining … an installation area of the solar panels using the image coordinates,” as recited in claim 1, see p. 11 last paragraph – p. 13 ¶ 2. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The Examiner relies on McClure to reject this limitation. In paragraphs 0025, 0034, 0036, McClure teaches inputting specifications to the power plant design, longitude and latitude along with the site geometry for configuration and performing design and optimization of the PV solar arrays and layout. Paragraphs 0111-0112 reinforce these teachings. The teaching of inputting longitude and latitude to design, layout, and optimize indicate that an installation area of the solar panels using the image coordinate is defined in accordance to discussion above regarding longitude and latitude corresponding and x-y positions on the image on the display.
The Applicant also argues that it is practically impossible to define an installation area within an installation site using geographic coordinates, see p. 12 ¶ 2. Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Claim 1 remains rejected.
Claims 4-14, and 18-19 are argued patentable for depending on patentable claim 1. Since claim 1 remains rejected, claims 4-14 and 18-19 remain rejected.
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.
Claims 1, 4-14, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McClure et al. (US 2015/0331972) in view of Wachman et al. (US 2018/0239841) and Morse et al. (US 2016/0140258).
As per claim 1, McClure teaches a method for creating a photovoltaic system comprising several interconnected solar panels, the method comprising:
a. generating, by a processor, an image of an installation site of the photovoltaic system using aerial imagery and displaying the image on a display (¶ 0044, 0047; McClure teaches using a computer to obtain site image, for example satellite, for estimating and preparing the particular site for receiving a solar PV power plant; satellite image is an aerial imagery; it is inherent to use a display for displaying the image data since prior art states analyzing site imagery data; the data must be displayed to do such analysis; therefore, this feature is inherently taught);
b. receiving, in the processor, image coordinates corresponding to points on the image (¶ 0036, 0112; McClure teaches obtaining longitude/latitude of the site, corresponding to image coordinates);
c. defining, in the processor, an installation area (22) of the solar panels using the image coordinates; (¶ 0025, 0034; McClure teaches performing computations for calculate values of particular parameters comprising max internal rate of return, etc. on a given specific site areal coverage; this teaching means an installation area is defined for these computations) ¶ 0112
d. receiving, in the processor, site-specific data of the installation site (¶ 0044; McClure teaches obtaining a 3D site image comprising areas in the site and its terrain; these are site-specific data of the installation site) and solar panel specification data of one or more types of solar panels (¶ 0161, 0291; McClure teaches solar panel specific data including and PV efficiency and type of PV panel); and
e. generating, in the processor, a solar panel layout of the solar panels within the installation area using the installation area, the site-specific data, and solar panel specification data, the solar panel layout comprising one or more of:
f. simulating, in the processor, the photovoltaic system using the solar panel layout and site-specific data, wherein simulating the photovoltaic system comprises simulating one or more of:
McClure does not teach:
b. receiving, in the processor, from a user, image coordinates corresponding to points on the image, the image coordinates being x-y positions selected by the user on the image displayed on the display;
wherein the site-specific data comprises a roof type of a building of the installation site.
However, Wachman teaches:
b. receiving, in the processor, from a user, image coordinates corresponding to points on the image, the image coordinates being x-y positions selected by the user on the image displayed on the display (¶ 0007; Wachman teaches a user using a user interface for solar panel placement including receiving data corresponding to an installation location comprising latitude/longitude; the latitude/longitude on a user interface correspond to image coordinates being x-y positions on the image displayed on the display selected by the user).
McClure and Wachman are analogous art because they are in the same field of PV layout design. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of McClure and Wachman. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a combination because Wachman’s teachings would have provided a method to determine solar panel placement including receiving data corresponding to an installation location (Wachman, Abstract)
McClure and Wachman do not teach:
wherein the site-specific data comprises a roof type of a building of the installation site.
However, Morse teaches:
the site-specific data comprises a roof type of a building of the installation site (¶ 0004, 0062, 0064; Morse teaches PV layout design automation using site-specific data comprising a roof of different levels such as slope, flat; this teaching of roof reads on roof type of a building according to the specification of the instant application on p. 7 lines 15-19).
McClure, Wachman, and Morse are analogous art because they are in the same field of PV layout design. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of McClure, Wachman, and Morse. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a combination because Morse’s teachings would have helped determine shadow effects of obstructions on non-level surfaces (¶ 0064).
As per claim 4, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein simulating the photovoltaic system further comprises optimizing, in the processor, the photovoltaic system by iteratively first generating an adjusted solar panel layout (¶ 0157; McClure teaches iteratively optimizing solar panel layout) and secondly simulating the adjusted solar panel layout, until an optimum is reached in one or more of:
As per claim 5, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein simulating the photovoltaic system further comprises:
a. receiving, in the processor, power usage data at the installation site, the power usage data comprising one or more of: col.; McClure teaches parameter PPA(i): power purchase agreement rate as of hour i at year 1; this parameter corresponds of a number of kilowatt-hours of power used per year at the installation site); and
b. generating, in the processor, using the power usage data and the solar panel layout, one or more of:
As per claim 6, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein generating the solar panel layout comprises generating a mounting system for mounting each of the solar panels (¶ 0017, 0172, 0198; McClure teaches designing and generating mounting structures for solar panels).
As per claim 7, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein the solar panel specification data comprises one or more of: type (¶ 0291),
As per claim 8, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein generating an image of the installation site comprises generating a plan view of the installation site using geolocation data (¶ 0265-0266; McClure teaches interface for layer to view and modify geographical layout of site comprising size or shape of the virtual space; size or shape of a geographical layout of site corresponds to a plan view of the installation site).
As per claim 9, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein generating the solar panel layout comprises calculating, in the processor, one or more pitches of one or more sections of the installation site (¶ 0006; McClure teaches organization of modules at site onto the ground divided by panel row based on panel dimension, azimuths; this teaching reads onto this claim).
As per claim 10, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein generating the solar panel layout comprises calculating, in the processor, one or more of:
a
b. wind load of the solar panel layout, (¶ 0005; McClure teaches using wind loading in layout of a PV module)
As per claim 11, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein the site-specific data comprises one or more of:
a. a geographic location of the installation site; (¶ 0032; McClure teaches a geographic location of the installation site used in designing a solar power plant; this teaching reads on to this limitation)
As per claim 12, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein creating the photovoltaic system further comprises generating, in the processor, a list of components of the photovoltaic system comprising one or more of:
c. an inverter type, (¶ 0019-0020)
As per claim 13, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein creating the photovoltaic system further comprises generating, in the processor, assembly instructions for the photovoltaic system at the installation site using the solar panel layout, the assembly instructions comprising a list of one or more of:
f. required ballast gear, (¶ 0017; McClure teaches required ballast gear)
As per claim 14, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches comprising creating the photovoltaic system, wherein creating the photovoltaic system comprises one or more of: installing and
As per claim 18, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein the aerial imagery comprises satellite images of the installation site (¶ 0044).
As per claim 19, McClure, Wachman, and Morse in combination teach the method of claim 1, McClure further teaches wherein the aerial imagery comprises drone images of the installation site (¶ 0061; McClure teaches images taken by unmanned aerial vehicles, which are drones).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Cuong Van Luu whose telephone number is 571-272-8572. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday from 8:30 to 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rehana Perveen, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-3676. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CUONG V LUU/Examiner, Art Unit 2189
/REHANA PERVEEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2189