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 .
Claims 1-10 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10 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.
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 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(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newman et al. USPGPUB 2014/0153913 (hereinafter “Newman”) in view of Kreutzman USPGPUB 20150354833 A1 (hereinafter “Kreutzman”) further in view of Marhoefer USPGPUB 20120130556 A1 (hereinafter “Marhoefer”).
As to claim 1, Newman teaches a method for deriving a predetermined unit of power from at least one power generator using a renewable energy source (FIG. 1 and paragraph 0031 “a solar photovoltaic water heating system 1 is shown. The solar photovoltaic water heating system 1 includes a photovoltaic panel array 31 consisting of individual solar photovoltaic panels 18”), the method comprising: receiving, by a control unit, application parameters associated with generation of the predetermined unit of power, operational parameters associated with the at least one power generator, and environmental parameters associated with a location of derivation of the power from the renewable energy source (paragraph 0031-0032 “photovoltaic panels 18 are conventional and produce direct current power when exposed to irradiance 19 from the Sun 20. The amount of direct current power produced by each photovoltaic panel 18 depends on the level of irradiance 19 impinging on the photovoltaic panels 18. Consequently, because the level of irradiance 19 varies based on the time of day and atmospheric conditions, the level of direct current power produced by each photovoltaic panel 18 varies accordingly” and FIG. 1); determining, by the control unit, an optimized value of resistance of heating element to minimize the conversion power loss for maximum power extraction from the renewable energy source or an electrical grid wherein a resistor unit having the determined value of resistance is electrically coupled with the at least one power generator (paragraph 0035-0036 “select the optimum direct current load resistance RloadDC 37 for the direct current power source 31 or the optimum alternating current load resistance RloadAC 36 for the alternating current power source 32. Selection of the optimum load resistance RloadDC 37 or RloadAC 36 maximizes the energy delivered to the water in the water storage tank 10 by either the direct current power source 31 or the alternating current power source 32” and paragraph 0097-0098); and deriving, by the control unit, the predetermined unit of power across the resistor unit from the at least one power generator (paragraph 0089-0090 “calculating the power from the photovoltaic array 31 by using the formula Pcurrent=V.sup.2/R wherein resistance is a function of the Mode at the time Pcurrent is determined. Once the current power (Pcurrent) from the photovoltaic array 31 has been determined at step 106, the subroutine 56 moves to step 108 and branches to step 66 of the routine 52”).
Newman does not explicitly teach determining, by the control unit, power generation capacity of the at least one power generator based on the application parameters, the operational parameters, and the environmental parameters.
However, Kreutzman teaches determining, by the control unit, power generation capacity of the at least one power generator based on the application parameters, the operational parameters, and the environmental parameters (paragraph 0021 “identify a current power capacity of the renewable energy source such that the power may be allocated between the electrical loads the resistive load”).
Newman and Kreutzman are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to renewable energy source.
Therefore at the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above renewable energy source, as taught by Newman, and incorporating generation capacity of the at least one power generator based on the application parameters, as taught by Kreutzman.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to improve monitoring, controlling optimum amount of power from the photovoltaic array, as suggested by Newman (paragraph 0004).
The combination of Newman and Kreutzman does not explicitly teach wherein the method is an optimized multi-mode electrical heating architecture and is configured to switch between multiple energy sources.
However, Marhoefer teaches wherein the method is an optimized multi-mode electrical heating architecture and is configured to switch between multiple energy sources (paragraph0053-0061 “FIG. 1 shows the basic building block of the virtual power plant under an exemplary embodiment. Building 101 has multiple sources to satisfy its electricity load: the grid 102, a local renewable energy generation source 103 and a storage device 104, which may include a plurality of storage devices. The flow of electricity from the supply sources--grid, renewable energy and storage device--to the demand sources--building load 101 and storage device 104--is governed by a switch/actuator 105”; paragraph 0085 “models can be run through a multi-stage optimization algorithm (1. Charge optimization for arbitrage; 2. Adjustment of charge constraints for the value hierarchy; 3. Discharge optimization for arbitrage; 4. Adjustment of discharge constraints for the value hierarchy) for various capacities (and efficiencies) of renewable energy and storage equipment. Installed costs for the capital equipment can also be ascertained. Executing this multi-stage algorithm for different variations of renewable energy and storage capacity will yield expected annual benefits for a given capital cost” and 0021-0030).
Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to renewable energy source.
Therefore at the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above renewable energy source, as taught by Newman and Kreutzman, and incorporating optimized multi-mode electrical heating architecture and is configured to switch between multiple energy sources, as taught by Marhoefer.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to improve monitoring, controlling maximizes and optimizes energy distribution, and hence value for the asset owners, aggregators, utilities and regional transmission organizations (RTOs), as suggested by Marhoefer (paragraph 0002).
As to claim 2, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches comprising determining a number of power generators needed to generate the predetermined unit of power (paragraph 0036-0037 “control system 16 opens and closes the DC switch 43, the AC switch 44, and the switches associated with each of the resistors R11, R12, R13, and R14 in order to select the optimum direct current load resistance RloadDC 39 for the direct current power source 31 or the optimum alternating current load resistance RloadAC 38 for the alternating current power source 32”).
As to claim 3, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches wherein the resistor unit comprising a plurality of resistors and the control unit is adapted to electrically couple at least one resistor from amongst the plurality of resistors to obtain the determined value of resistance (paragraph 0036-0038 “DC switch 43, an AC switch 44, and a resistance array including fixed value resistors R11, R12, R13, and R14 with their associated switches. The resistors R11, R12, R13, and R14 represent each of the four individual heating rods 29 in the resistance heating element 15”).
As to claim 4, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches wherein the application parameters include at least one of energy requirement, system parameters, and energy storage parameters (paragraph 0099 “determine the various photovoltaic water heating system operating parameters, which in turn is used to determine the resistance values of the heating rods 29” and paragraph 0095 “used to charge batteries”).
As to claim 5, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches wherein the operational parameters include at least one of rated power, current, voltage, conversion efficiency, temperature coefficient, operating temperature, system de-rating factor, and resistance (paragraph 0095 “temperature” and paragraph 0031 “resistance heating elements 15”).
As to claim 6, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches wherein the environmental parameters include at least one of atmospheric conditions, weather conditions, temperature conditions, number of sunlight hours, seasonal conditions, and latitude and longitude of the location (paragraph 0008-0012 “temperature condition” and paragraph 0032 “level of irradiance 19 varies based on the time of day and atmospheric conditions”).
As to claim 7, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches wherein the power generator includes at least one of a solar energy power generator, a wind energy power generator, a tidal energy power generator, a biomass energy power generator, and a geo-thermal energy power generator (FIG. 1 solar energy and paragraph 0031).
As to claim 8, Newman and Kreutzman teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above. Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer
Newman further teaches comprising coupling a non-renewable energy power source as an alternative to the renewable energy power source (FIG. 1 and paragraph 0031 “solar photovoltaic water heating system 1 includes a photovoltaic panel array 31 consisting of individual solar photovoltaic panels 18, a water storage tank 10 with resistance heating elements 15, a programmable control system 16, and an alternating current power source 3”).
As to claim 9, Newman, Kreutzman and Marhoefer teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Newman further teaches comprising coupling a heating system to an output of the power generator (paragraph 0031 and FIG. 1 “solar photovoltaic water heating system”).
As to claim 10, is related to claim 1 with similar limitations also rejected by same rational.
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
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.
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.
Kreutzman et al USPGPUB 20140265573 A1 a systems and methods (i.e., utilities) that allow for the use of non-grid tied renewable energy systems (e.g., PV arrays and/or wind turbines) without requiring battery banks. In various aspects, these utilities permit the efficient use of renewable energy systems to generate electrical power as well as the ability to dynamically direct where such electrical power is applied.
Colon et al. USPGPUB 20190195513 A1 teaches a solar power system has a photovoltaic module that supplies electrical current derived from sunlight to a heater system of a hot water tank. The heater system uses the electrical energy from the photovoltaic module, and optionally also from a local power grid, to heat water up to a selected maximum stored hot water temperature. Control circuitry senses when the level of electrical power is below a threshold solar-power level, and in response sets the stored hot water temperature for the heater system to a first lower temperature value. The control circuitry also senses when the level of electrical power is above the threshold solar-power level, an in response sets the stored hot water temperature for the heater system to a second elevated temperature value higher than the lower temperature, making advantageous use of solar power when available. A mixing unit adds cold water to set the dispensed water temperature.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIAUL KARIM whose telephone number is (571)270-3279. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8:00-4:00 PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on 571 272 4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZIAUL KARIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119
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