DETAILED ACTION
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 responsive to the communication filed on 11/24/2025. The claim(s) 1-20 is/are pending, of which the claim(s) 1, 10, & 14 is/are in independent form.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments (Remarks filed 11/14/2025 pages 8-9) with respect to amended limitations of the independent claims 1, 10, & 14 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Specifically, newly discovered reference KR20140095351A to Jeong (see attached FOR document, ¶ [0043] “The power converter determines the upper limit value Vdc.max and the lower limit value Vdc.min of the reference DC link voltage based on the input voltage of the input power source (S200)”) is relied on to show the argued and amended limitations.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because
Regarding fig. 2, the item number 206 is stated as “PV dynamic boundary limits module”; however, the corresponding specification states same element as “a PV dynamic boundary limits model 206” (see, para. 027, 029). Therefore, there is a discrepancy between the description in the specification and on the drawing for the same item.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
In claims 1- 20:
“ a boundary limits module function”, see line 17 claim 1: Examiner notes this element is shown as item “PV dynamic boundary limits module” 206 of fig. 2. The specification also states following:
[027] Overload controller 106 includes a smart PV reserve 202, a power tracking module 204, a PV dynamic boundary limits model 206, a virtual synchronous generator (VSG) control module 208, an overload control module 210, a multi-inverter coordination
module 212, a transient control module 214, a load information module 216, a modulator 218, a protection module 220, and a QN control module 222, any of which may be implemented using hardware, software, and/or a combination thereof.
[029] PV dynamic boundary limits model 206 is configured to
determine, based on a boundary limits function and the determined power output of renewable power source 102, a range of voltage for safe operation.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1- 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
I) Regarding claims 1, 10, & 14, the claim element “a boundary limits module function” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function.
In this instance, specification fails to clearly point out the metes and bounds for the element of “a boundary limits module function”. Firstly, while the specification discloses “boundary limits module” (fig. 2) and “a PV dynamic boundary limits model 206 is configured to determine, based on a boundary limits function and the determined” (para. 029), it still fails to state “a boundary limits module function” as recited. Hence, the claimed element is not clearly linked to the item 206.
Second, Examiner notes the fig. 2 does show this element as a black box entity 206 as part of the controller 106. The specification in para. [029] further states this and other modules are “implemented using hardware, software, and/or a combination thereof.” Nevertheless, the specification still fails to clarify what is included and what is not included in the structure of the claimed “boundary limits module”. The specification’s combination of hardware and software encompass indefinitely many hardware and software combinations. Hence, PHOSITA would not be able to identify which combinations are included and which combination is/are not included out of those possibilities. Hence, specification fails to clearly specify the BRI of the claimed “boundary limits module function”.
Note: For the examination purpose, any processor that can calculate upper limit and lower limit is mapped as “a boundary limits module functions” as discussed below under 103 rejection.
II) Regarding claims 2- 9, 11- 13, & 15- 20, they are also rejected because of their dependency with rejected independent claims.
Therefore, the claim(s) is/are indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7, 9- 12, 14, 17- 18, & 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Siri (US 6369462 B1) in view of Fornage et al. (US 20100195357 A1), and further in view of Jeong et al. (KR20140095351A, see attached FOR document). Siri and Fornage are references of the record. The combination of Siri, Fornage, and Jeong are referred as SFJ hereinafter.
Regarding claim 1, Siri teaches a renewable power system [“a parallel converter maximum power tracking system” of fig. 2] comprising: (fig. 2);
(1) a plurality of power generating devices [Fig. 2, “plurality of solar arrays 10a-n respectively parallel connected to input stabilizers 16a-n”] (see Fig. 2, Col. 5 lines 55- 60);
(2) a plurality of power converters [“respective converters 14a-n that are in turn coupled to a respective number of n maximum power trackers 22a-n”], each power converter of said plurality of power converters electrically coupled to at least one power generating device of said plurality of power generating devices and at least one of a load [item 12] and/or a main grid (Fig. 2, Col 5 lines 55- 60); and
(3) a plurality of controllers [“respective DC-DC converters 14a-n having respective individual maximum power trackers (MPT) 22a-n for controlling the respectively connected DC-DC converters 14a-n having a single common shared bus input (SB)”], each of said plurality of controllers comprising a processor coupled in communication with at least one power converter of said plurality of power converters (Col 5 lines 55- 60), said processor of each of said plurality of controllers configured to:
[a] detect a load power [“depending on the amount of power available and sourced from the respective arrays 10a-n and depending on the amount of power demand of the load 12”] of the at least one of the load and/or the main grid; [b] determine an available power [“The available power from the array 10 is shown to have maxima 106 and 108 on respective solar array power profile curves for respective 100% and 50% solar illumination intensities”] of said plurality of power generating devices (Fig. 7, Col 6 lines 10- 20, Col 11 lines 5- 10); and
[c] in response to the load power exceeding [“when the load demand is more than the available peak power”] the available power of said plurality of power generating devices, adjust [changing to operate in “a maximum power-tracking mode” from voltage regulation mode means increasing INCR (“providing the increment signal INCR indicating an increasing state”) until reaching maximum power] at least one parameter of said at least one power converter (Claim 1, Col 10 lines 20- 25, Col 6 lines 50-60, Col 11 lines 35-40);
…
control said at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter (Col 6 lines 55-57, Col 11 35-40, 60-065).
In summary, Siri teaches pluralities of controllers of a renewable power system adjusting of the at least one parameters of the of power parallel converters (items 14s of fig. 2) as part of the controlling the power converter to address the situation when the load demand is more than the available peak power from the sources 10a-n during power-tracking mode (fig. 2, Col. 6).
However, Siri does not teach determining whether such adjusting of the parameters can violate one or more dynamic safe operating limits or not and how to minimize the power loss across its power converters. More specifically, Siri may not teach its controllers to:
(1) determine a range of safe operation based on a power output of at least one
power generating device electrically coupled to said at least one power converter by
inputting the power output of the at least one power generating device into a boundary
limits module function that outputs an upper limit of safe operation and a lower limit of
safe operation for the adjusted at least one parameter; and
(2) determine if the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range of safe operation; when the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range of safe operation, control said at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter; and when the adjusted at least one parameter is not within the range of safe operation, deactivate said at least one power converter as claimed.
Fornage is directed to a renewable power system to provide power to a load/grid [“to power grid” that is coupled with load center 108] using pluralities of the inverters 102s coupled with pluralities of the power generating devices [PV modules 104s] (Fig. 1, [022]). Specifically, Fornage cures Siri’s 2nd deficiency. More specifically, Fornage teaches each of power controllers [monitoring modules 306] for pluralities of power converters [conversion modules 302] configured to:
determine [Step 414 of fig. 4] if the adjusted [“the corrected monitoring voltage is within required regulatory limits”] at least one parameter is within a range of safe operation; when the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range [“within required regulatory limits”] of safe operation, control [“alternatively, AC voltage regulation may be performed” based on the decision of the step 422] said at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter; and when the adjusted at least one parameter is not within the range of safe operation, deactivate [“If the result of such determination is no, the method400 proceeds to step 422, where the inverter is deactivated”] said at least one power converter ([024, 043-044, 050]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Fornage and Siri because they both related to control operating pluralities of the parallel power converters to supply power to a shared electric load using pluralities of the controllers and (2) modify the controllers of Siri to include 2nd missing limitation from Fornage. Doing so would allow the converters of the Siri to help operate the power system of Siri within regulatory compliance and mitigate potential safety hazards (Fornage [007, 021]).
Siri in view of Fornage teaches checking whether the adjusted at least one parameter of the power converters are within “a range of safe operation”.
However Siri in view of Fornage still does not allow its utilized range of safe operation (“to the regulatory limits” of Fornage in para. 050) to be adjustable based on power output of at least one power generating device (like outputs from item 10s of Siri to converter 14s) using boundary limits module. That is, Siri in view of Fornage fails to teach “determine a range of safe operation based on a power output of at least one power generating device electrically coupled to said at least one power converter by inputting the power output of the at least one power generating device into a boundary limits module function that outputs an upper limit of safe operation and a lower limit of safe operation for the adjusted at least one parameter”.
Jeong teaches a power system comprising a power generating device [item 100] coupled with a power converter [item 200] to provide controlled power to at least a power load [item 800] using a controller [item 400] (Fig. 1, [023]). Specifically, Jeong teaches a power system comprising a power controller configured to:
determine a range of safe operation based on a power output of at least one
power generating device [“input power source 100”] electrically coupled to said at least one power converter inputting the power output of the at least one power generating device into a boundary limits module function [logic used by the controller 400 that determines upper limit value and lower limit value ] that outputs [“power converter determines the upper limit value Vdc.max and the lower limit value Vdc.min of the reference DC link voltage based on the input voltage of the input power source (S200).”] an upper limit of safe operation and a lower limit of safe operation for the adjusted at least one parameter ([033-038, 042-043]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Jeong and Siri in view of Fornage because they both related to using a power converter to convert power from a power generator before providing to an electric load and (2) modify the Siri in view of Fornage’s each controller to determine a range of safe operation including upper limit and lower limit by inputting power output of the power generating device (like items 10a, 10b) to a boundary limit module as in Jeong. Doing so would minimize switching and conduction loss and also increase the power efficiency of the converters 14s of Siri in view of Fornage (See Jeong, [014]). Accordingly, SFJ teaches each element of the claim and renders invention of this claim obvious to PHOSITA.
Regarding claim 4, SFJ further teaches/suggests the renewable power system of Claim 1, wherein in response to the load power exceeding the available power of said plurality of power generating devices, said processor is further configured to adjust one or more of a frequency reference and/or a voltage magnitude of said at least one power converter (Siri, Claim 1, Fig. 2, Col 9 lines 2- 7: “When the logic circuit 76 is in the increasing state, when the increment INCR signal is active and the decrement signal is inactive, the VIN array voltage is controlled to be increasing”).
Regarding claim 7, SFJ further teaches/suggests the renewable power system of Claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of power generating devices comprises one or more of a photovoltaic (PV) source [“an n plurality of solar arrays 10a-n respectively parallel connected to input stabilizers 16a-n and respective converters 14a-n”], , a wind source, and a battery source (Siri, Fig. 2, Col 6 lines 55- 60, Fornage Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 9, SFJ further teaches the renewable power system of Claim 1, wherein said processor of each of said plurality of controllers is further configured to determine a power setpoint [“predetermined set point is dynamically updated by the maximum power-tracking logic based on the sensed changes in the array power and the array voltage”] based on the available power of each of said plurality of power generating devices (Siri, Col 11 lines 60- 67 & Col 12 lines 1- 5).
Regarding claim 10, the rejection of claim 1 based on SFJ is incorporated. Thus, only in summary, Siri teaches a method for controlling a renewable power system [“the maximum power-tracking system is a paralleled converter maximum power-tracking system having an n plurality of solar arrays 10a-n respectively parallel connected to input stabilizers 16a-n”] including a plurality of power generating devices [“solar arrays 10a-n”], a plurality of power converters [“respective converters 14a-n that”], each power converter of the plurality of power converters electrically coupled to at least one power generating device of the plurality of power generating devices and at least one of a load [Load 12] and/or a main grid, and a plurality of controllers [“respective number of n maximum power trackers 22a-n”], each of the plurality of controllers including a processor coupled in communication with at least one power converter of the plurality of power converters, said method comprising: (Col 5 lines 50-65, Fig. 2);
detecting, by at least one processor [one of the MPT 22, “converter 14a-n has a respective MPT 22a-n”] of the pluralities of controllers, a load power of the at least one of the load and/or the main grid; determining, by the at least one processor, an available power of the plurality of power generating devices (Col. 6 lines 42- 51: “The MPT 22 tracks the power available from the solar array source 10 using the Io sense signal and senses the solar array voltage VIN signal, for controlling the converters 14a-n in either the maximum power-tracking mode or the voltage regulation mode for providing maximum power to the load 12 under varying amounts of available solar power and under varying amount of load demand.”, Claim 1); and
in response to the load power exceeding [“when the load demand exceeds the source powers”] the available power of the plurality of power generating devices, adjusting, by the at least one processor, at least one parameter of the at least one power converter (Fig. 2, claim 1, Col 10 lines 20- 25, Col 6 lines 40- 51);
…
controlling, by the at least one processor, the at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter (Col 11 35-40, 60-065).
However, Siri fails to teach checking whether the adjusted parameters is within a range of safe operation to take appropriate control actions and varying the safe operation range/limit based on the input power to the converter. That is, Siri fails to teach:
(1) determining a range of safe operation based on a power output of at least one power generating device electrically coupled to the at least one power converter by inputting the power output of the at least one power generating device into a boundary limits module function that outputs an upper limit of safe operation and a lower limit of safe operation for the adjusted at least one parameter; and
(2) determining by the at least one processor, if the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range of safe operation; when the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range of safe operation, controlling, by the at least one processor, the at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter; and when the adjusted at least one parameter is not within the range of safe operation, deactivating, by the at least one processor, the at least one power converter.
Fornage teaches the steps of: determining [Step S414], by the at least one processor, if the adjusted at least one parameter is within a range of safe operation; when the adjusted at least one parameter is within the range of safe operation, controlling, by the at least one processor, the at least one power converter based on the adjusted at least one parameter; and when the adjusted at least one parameter is not within the range of safe operation, deactivating [S422, “the inverter is deactivated”], by the at least one processor, the at least one power converter ([043-044, 050], Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Fornage and Siri because they both related to control operating pluralities of the parallel power converters to provide power to a shared load using pluralities of the controllers and (2) modify the controllers of Siri to include missing checking of adjusted parameters possible violation with safety rules limitations from Fornage. Doing so would allow the converters of the Siri to mitigate potential safety hazards while adjusting the parameters of the converters (Fornage [007]).
Siri in view of Fornage fails to teach but Jeong teaches a method step comprising: determining a range of safe operation [“determining an upper limit value and a lower limit value of the reference DC link voltage based on the input voltage”] based on a power output of at least one power generating device electrically coupled to the at least one power converter by inputting the power output of the at least one power generating device into a boundary limits module function [controller 400] that outputs an upper limit of safe operation and a lower limit of safe operation for the adjusted at least one parameter ([033, 038, 042-043]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Jeong and Siri in view of Fornage because they both related to using a power converter to convert power from a power generator before providing to an electric load and (2) modify the Siri in view of Fornage’s each controller to determine a range of safe operation including upper limit and lower limit by inputting power output of the power generating device (like items 10a, 10b) to a boundary limit module as in Jeong. Doing so would minimize switching and conduction loss and also increase the power efficiency of the converters 14s of Siri in view of Fornage (See Jeong, [014]). Accordingly, SFJ teaches each element of the claim and renders invention of this claim obvious to PHOSITA.
Regarding claim 11, SFJ further teaches the method of Claim 10, further comprising, in response to the load power exceeding the available power of the plurality of power generating devices, adjusting, by the at least one processor, a frequency reference and/or a voltage magnitude of the at least one power converter (Siri, Col 9 lines 31-35, “In the converter 14, the converter signal Vc is used to change the input impedance of the converter 14 that adjusts the VIN voltage that is the solar array output voltages +/-V”).
Regarding claim 12, SFJ further teaches the method of Claim 10, further comprising determining, by the at least one processor, a power setpoint based on the available power of each of the plurality of power generating devices (Siri, Col 11 lines 60- 67 & Col 12 lines 1- 5).
Regarding claim 14, SFJ further teaches invention of this claim for the similar reasons as set forth above in claims 1 & 10.
Regarding claim 17, Siri further teaches the controller of Claim 14, wherein in response to the load power exceeding the available power of the at least one power generating device, said processor is further configured to adjust one or more of a frequency reference and/or a voltage magnitude of the at least one power converter (Col 9 lines 31-35).
Regarding claim 18, SFJ further teaches the controller of Claim 14, wherein the at least one power generating device includes one or more of a photovoltaic (PV) source, a wind source, and a battery source (Siri, Fig. 2 & Fornage Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 20, Siri further teaches the controller of Claim 14, wherein said processor is further configured to determine at least one of a power setpoint and/or coefficients for power sharing based on the available power of a plurality of power generating devices, the plurality of power generating devices including the at least one power generating device electrically coupled to the power converter (Col 11 lines 60- 67 & Col 12 lines 1- 5).
Claim(s) 2- 3, & 15- 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SFJ, and further in view of Meng (US 20160159250 A1, reference of the record).
Regarding claims 2-3, SFJ further teaches the renewable power system of claim 1 as set forth above in claim 1 but fails to teach the remaining features of these claims. However, SFJ does not teach how its converters can coordinate operation thereof to meet the varying level of power demand using variable generated power from various power generating devices. That is, SFJ fails to teach using “decentralized communication network” or “without communication between said plurality of controllers” as claimed in these claims.
Meng is directed to a renewable power system comprising pluralities of solar power generating devices capable of utilizing maximum power point tracking control and a pluralities of power converters each having controller with a processor (Fig. 3, [038]). Specifically, Meng teaches a renewable power system comprising
a decentralized communication network, wherein said plurality of controllers are configured to communicate though said decentralized [“the converters of the system may be controlled by the scheme of master-slave control, peer to peer control”. Peer to peer control scheme is understood as decentralized control in the art and is consistent with applicant’s description provided in para. 023 of the specification] communication network ([037, 049]);
wherein said processor of each of said plurality of controllers is configured to adjust the at least one parameter [“the scheme of master-slave control, peer to peer control, droop control, or hierarchical control”] to coordinate said plurality of power converters without communication between said plurality of controllers ([040, 049]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Meng and SFJ because they both related to coordinating operation of the converters of distributed power generating devices of a renewable power system and (2) modify the system of SFJ to utilize decentralized or non-communication scheme as in Meng. Meng teaches missing details for SFJ about how its converters can coordinate control on power generation to maintain power balance in its system (Meng [047]).
Regarding claims 15- 16, SFJ in view of Meng teaches inventions of these claims for the similar reasons as set forth above in claims 2-3 respectively.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SFJ as in claim 1, and further in view of Huang et al. [reference of the record] (CN 103547043 A, Publication Date: 2014-01-29).
Regarding claim 5, SFJ further teaches a renewable power system configured to provide power to an electric load 12 as discussed above. Siri’s power system of the fig. 2 can be considered an island grid because it has power sources 10n and a power load 12. Siri further teaches “can be used to supply power to a sixty-hertz utility grid” (Col 12 lines 35-40).
However, SFJ does not teach how its system couples/decouples with a utility grid. Thus, Siri fails to teach its system further comprising an island switch configured to selectively couple and decouple an island grid from the main grid.
Examiner notes that it is well-known in the grid connected micro-grid art to utilize an island switch to implementing coupling and decoupling a microgrid (like Siri’s system of fig/ 2) with a larger power grid (utility grid). For example, Huang teaches a renewable power system comprising an island switch [“the island switch 12”] configured to selectively [“the signal transmitted to island the switch 12, control module opens the island switch 12”] couple and decouple an island grid [system block with power sources including “a plurality of photovoltaic power generation modules” 6 and “generating module 7”] from the main grid [“the online sub-module 11 is the operation of the three-phase power grid”] (Fig. 2, [042, 047]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Huang and SFJ because they both related to providing power from an island grid to a bigger/utility grid and (2) have the system of SFJ to utilize island switch as in Huang. Doing so would allow connecting or disconnecting of the SFJ’s power system (Fig. of fig. 2) with the “sixty-hertz utility grid” as needed such as when the grid is opening in unstable situation to protect the equipment of the Siri’s power system as can be clear to PHOSITA. As such, the combined teachings of SFJ and Huang teaches each element of the claim and renders invention of this claim obvious to PHOSITA.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SFJ in view of Grammatikakis et al (US 20140278332 A1, reference of record).
Regarding claim 6, SFJ teaches a renewable power system configured to provide power to an electric load 12 as discussed above. Siri’s power system of the fig. 2 can be considered an island grid because it has power sources 10n and a power load 12. Siri further teaches “can be used to supply power to a sixty-hertz utility grid” (Col 12 lines 35-40).
SFJ does not teach how its system couples/decouples with a utility grid. Thus, SFJ fails to teach plurality of unit transformers, wherein each power converter of said plurality of power converters is coupled to an island grid via one of said plurality of unit transformers.
However, using of the transformers to allow connecting of the a small micro-grid with a larger power grid is well-known in the art so that the voltage difference between these two grids can be addressed before allowing power flow therebetween.
Grammatikakis teaches a renewable power system comprising:
a pluralities of power converters and a plurality of unit transformers [“a plurality of transformers 24”], wherein each power converter of said plurality of power converters is coupled to an island grid [“a solar plant”] via one of said plurality of unit transformers (Fig. 1, [017-019]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Grammatikakis and SFJ because they both related to renewable power system providing power from low voltage microgrid to a larger voltage main-grid and (2) modify the system of SFJ to include transformers as in Grammatikakis. Doing so would allow the low voltage from the system of SFJ to be raised to be medium voltage (Grammatikakis, [019]). As such, SFJ further in view of Grammatikakis teaches each element of the claim and renders inventions of this claim obvious to PHOSITA.
Claim(s) 8 & 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SFJ and further in view of Liu (US 20130069438 A1, reference of record).
Regarding claim 8, SFJ teaches using its renewable power system to provide power to an electric load 12. Here, SFJ fails to clarify the type of the load being AC power grid although it mentions that its system “used to supply power to a sixty-hertz utility grid for more efficient power generation” (Col 12 lines 35- 37). That is, while SFJ does teach that is power system can be used to provide power to the main grid (‘sixty-hertz utility grid”) and also using pluralities of the DC-DC converters 14, it still fails to teach how the DC power from the “solar array sources 10a-n” can be converted into AC power source. Accordingly, SFJ does not teach “wherein said plurality of power converters comprises at least one inverter”.
Liu teaches using of pluralities of power converters including some DC-DC converters and at least one DC-AC converter (inverter) to convert and transfer generated power at a solar plant into an electric grid (032], “A string voltage, V.sub.str, is output from each PV string 12, 14, 16, with an overall array or system voltage/power being routed to PV inverter 22 for inversion to an appropriate AC current for transmission to the power grid, for example”). That is, Liu teaches a renewable power system [“operation of PV system 10, and as shown in FIG. 3”] comprising:
a plurality of power generating devices [“a plurality of PV modules 17 that are connected in series.”] ([025]);
a plurality of power converters [“plurality of delta DC/DC converters 24” and “the DC link voltage determined by PV inverter 22 is provided to the DC/DC converters 24”. The inverter 22 convert DC power into AC power hence can be called a power converter], each power converter of said plurality of power converters electrically coupled to at least one power generating device of said plurality of power generating devices and at least one of a load and/or a main grid; and a plurality of controllers, each of said plurality of controllers comprising a processor [“Each delta DC/DC converter 24 also includes a controller 34 operationally connected thereto to control functioning of the DC/DC converter 24, so as to selectively vary a voltage output, V.sub.o, of the DC/DC converter 24 that provides "tuning" of respective PV string voltages”] coupled in communication with at least one power converter of said plurality of power converters, said processor configured to: (Fig. 3, [028- 032])
adjust [“Upon execution of the power maximizing algorithm, the total power harvested form PV system 10 is 4600 W, indicated by reference numeral 64”] at least one parameter of said at least one power converter ([041, 045]). More specifically, Liu teaches a renewable power system comprising a pluralities of power converters, wherein said plurality of power converters comprises at least one inverter [“voltage/power being routed to PV inverter 22 for inversion to an appropriate AC current”. Hence, out of many converters, the system of Liu uses at least one of the converter as an inverter type of the converter] (Fig. 3, [026, 032]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Liu and SFJ because they both related to operating renewable power system with multiple converters having respective controllers to provide power to an electric load having variable power demand and (2) modify the system of SFJ to include an inverter type of the converter as in Liu. Doing so would allow the generated power in system of SFJ using its solar arrays 10s also can be provided to a power grid in a controlled manner (Liu [032]). Accordingly, the combined teachings of SFJ and Liu teach each element of the claim and render invention of the claim 8 obvious to the PHOSITA.
Regarding claim 19, SFJ in view of Liu teaches invention of this claim for the similar reasons as set forth above in claim 8.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Siri (US 6369462 B1) in view of Fornage, and further in view of Rashidi et al. (US 20210091564 A1, reference of the record).
Regarding claim 13, Siri teaches utilizing of the pluralities of the power sources [items 10s] via their respective converters 14s to provide power to its load 12 (Fig. 2). Siri further teaches/suggests that its power sources to have different power capacity.
However, SFJ fails to teach the system comprising determining, by the at least one processor, coefficients for power sharing based on the available power of each of the plurality of power generating devices.
Rashidi teaches a power system comprising: determining, by the at least one processor, coefficients [“the percentage share of the load current for each of the twice as powerful independent DC power systems would be 40% (e.g., a total of 80%)”] for power sharing based on the available power of each of the plurality of power generating devices ([017, 034]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to (1) combine Rashidi and SFJ because they both related to utilizing pluralities of the parallelly connected power sources to provide power to shared load(s) and (2) modify the method of SFJ to include the step of determining, by the processor, coefficients for power sharing based on the available power of each of the plurality of power generating devices as in Rashidi. Doing so management of the available power in the system of SFJ from various power sources can be further optimized (Rashidi [001]). Furthermore, Rashidi teaches one or more schemes that can be utilized to share the power/current from various parallel sources of Siri in view of Fornage.
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
1) Howard (US 20230170704 A1) teaches determining, via the controller, an upper power boundary and a lower power boundary for grid-induced power deviations from a desired power operating point (Abstract).
2) Bundy (US 4727332 A ) teaches an upper and lower saturation points of the limiter circuit 10 are dynamically controlled, which is accomplished by utilizing a dynamically variable voltage source as a control input to the limiter (Col 1 lines 35-45).
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/SANTOSH R POUDEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115