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 1-15 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-6 and 10-15 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, 3-6 and 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spruce USPGPUB 2018/0171979 (hereinafter “Spruce”) in view of More et al. USPGPUB 2013/0184884 (hereinafter “More”) further in view of Qin et al. USP 10447070 B2 (hereinafter “Qin”).
As to claim 1, Spruce teaches a method of controlling the operation of a power plant (paragraph 0340 “wind power plant”), wherein the power plant comprises plural energy systems (paragraph 0340 “wind turbines”) that are individually controllable (paragraph 0340 “individual control”), the plural energy systems comprising plural renewable energy generating systems of at least one type (paragraph 0340 “wind turbine”) and at least one energy storage system, wherein the plural energy systems are coupled to a power grid for exchanging electrical power with the power grid (paragraph 0342 “utility grid”), wherein the method comprises:
obtaining operating dat(paragraph 0037-0039 “receiving input indicative of a target minimum desired lifetime for each turbine”);
obtaining estimated environmental data that estimates one or more future environmental conditions (paragraph 0037-0039 “measured wind turbine site and/or operating data”);
wherein the modeling is based on the obtained operating data and is performed for a future period of time using said estimated environmental data (paragraph 0037-0039 “determining a value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime of each of the wind turbines or one or more turbine components of each of the wind turbines, based on measured wind turbine site and/or operating data” and paragraph 0134-00135, 0212), the future period of time being a predetermined end of life of the renewable energy generating systems of said type (paragraph 0057-0060 “turbine life is a predetermined target value corresponding to the turbine design lifetime” and 0037-0041), wherein an operating scheme defining said operating modes for the renewable energy generating systems is selected based on the modeling that maximizes at least one of energy production of the power plant in a predetermined second future period of time (paragraph 0054-0060 “maximising energy capture over the lifetime of the turbine”), a power demand satisfaction for a power demand of the power grid in a predetermined second future period of time (paragraph 0312-0315 “calculates an over-rating request signal indicating an amount up to which the turbine is to over-rate the power output above rated output” and 0054-0056), or revenue generated by delivery of electrical energy produced by the power plant to the power grid in a predetermined second future period of time (paragraph 0287-0288 “optimisation could be applied with any control action that trades off energy capture against turbine fatigue loading. This could include one or more of: changing power demand such as by de-rating”); and
based on the selected operating scheme, adjusting the operation of the power plant (paragraph 0037-0040 “control schedule for a wind power plant comprising two of more wind turbines, the control schedule indicating, for each wind turbine”).
Spruce does not explicitly teach plural renewable energy generating systems of at least one type and at least one energy storage system;
modeling at least residual lifetime of the plural renewable energy generating systems of said type and energy production of the power plant under consideration of the modeled residual lifetime.
However, More teaches Spruce does not explicitly teach plural renewable energy generating systems of at least one type and at least one energy storage system (paragraph 0039 “power may either be stored locally” and paragraph 0069 “stored power or power produced by the renewable energy sources 901, 905, 909, or 913”); modeling at least residual lifetime of the plural renewable energy generating systems of said type and energy production of the power plant under consideration of the modeled residual lifetime (paragraph 0050-0058 and 0072-0084 and FIG. 17 “modeling to maintain all aspects of the facility at its optimal performance. In one embodiment of the present invention, the optimal performance may be tied to configuring the site, for example, by taking into account all the specific capabilities and constraints of the site. To accomplish this, the control system may require not only actual operating parameters and contractual parameters, but may also require sufficient information to properly model the long term cost of operations”).
Spruce and More are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to energy management system.
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 energy management system, as taught by Spruce, and incorporating modeling at least residual lifetime of the plural renewable energy generating systems of said type and energy production of the power plant, as taught by More.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to improve monitoring, controlling to provide power in the sufficiently large and reliable quantities required for normal business and social activities, as suggested by More (paragraph 0003).
The combination Spruce and More does not explicitly teach modeling being performed for different operating modes of at least the renewable energy generating systems and considering the interaction between the plural energy systems including the interaction between the at least one energy storage system and the plural renewable energy generating systems.
However, Qin teaches modeling being performed for different operating modes of at least the renewable energy generating systems and considering the interaction between the plural energy systems including the interaction between the at least one energy storage system and the plural renewable energy generating systems (col. 5 line 43-col. 6 line 11 teaches different mode (mode 1 and mode 2) and model uses solar and battery to operate).
Spruce, More and Qin are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to energy management system.
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 energy management system, as taught by Spruce and More, and incorporating plural energy systems including the interaction between the at least one energy storage system and the plural renewable energy generating, as taught by Qin.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to provide a solar energy conversion system with a built-in high power storage battery super charger/discharger system and an optimal energy management control method to maximize solar energy usage by extend sun peak hour resulting in consuming less grid power, as suggested by Qin (col. 1 line 62- col. 2 line 5).
As to claim 3, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein the modeling for said future period of time considers storing energy generated by said renewable energy generating systemsparagraph 0049-0050 “Wind Turbine Generator and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panel arrays, which may optionally be equipped with integrated battery storage devices, into a utility scale generation facility which may be tied through a transmission level interconnect. Additionally, the utility scale generation facility may optionally contain an energy storage system consisting of one or more of a battery, capacitor, flywheel, or other energy storage system. The generation facility may have computer control systems that monitor and provide supervisory control to the various generation and storage devices” and FIG. 9).
As to claim 4, the combination of Spruce and More teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein the renewable energy generating systems comprise at least two types of renewable energy generating systems selected from the group comprising or consisting of:- wind turbines; and- solar energy systems (paragraph 0069-0070 “FIG. 9 includes a non-renewable power generator for 935 use in the event that demand cannot be met by stored power or power produced by the renewable energy sources 901, 905, 909, or 913”).
As to claim 5, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein obtaining estimated environmental data comprises the obtaining of: an estimated or predicted wind distribution; - an estimated or predicted solar radiation; an estimated or predicted power demand present on the power grid; and/or - an estimated electricity price for electrical energy supplied to the power grid (paragraph 0069 “Master Controller 941 that collects data (for example, "system inputs" in FIG. 10) including performance measurements, historical calculations, predicted data, etc. from a number of different sources such as remote wind power generation sites, wind or solar prediction software modules, or constant design parameters (for example, "source" in, FIG. 10). The input data is processed by the controller 941 to produce a number of output control signals that feed into combine master controllers 943 and 947, wind master controller 945, solar master controller 949, storage master controllers 951 and 953” and paragraph 0060-003, FIG. 9and 17).
As to claim 6, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, Spruce further teaches wherein if the modeled residual lifetime of one of the plural renewable energy generating systems expires during the modeling for the future period of time, an energy production and/or a revenue generated by such renewable energy generating system is set to zero for the remaining modeling (paragraph 0054-0056 and 0037-0039 “requires maximising energy capture over the lifetime of the turbine”).
As to claim 10, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein the operating scheme specifies for at least one operating feature of a renewable energy generating system a condition for the activation and deactivation of one or more operating features, wherein the condition is
As to claim 11, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein the plural renewable energy generating systems of the one type comprise plural wind turbines, wherein the operating mode for a wind turbine defines at least an activation state (paragraph 0070 “controller 941 to produce control signals that are output to combine master controllers 943 and 947, wind master controller 945, solar master controller 949, storage master controllers 951 and 953, and the non-renewable master controller 955”) of one of the following operating features:- an adaptive control system, ACS, control feature that reduces the output power of the wind turbine if turbulences above a threshold are determined at the wind turbine; - a power boost, PB, control feature that increases the power output of the wind turbine by increasing the power limit of the wind turbine under predetermined wind conditions; - a high wind ride through, HWRT, control feature that performs a load based reduction of the output power of the wind turbine at predetermined wind conditions; - a power curve upgrade kit, PCUK, control feature that modifies a control function of a wind turbine controller, in dependence on hardware modifications installed on the wind turbine; and/or - a peak shaving feature that changes the operating curve using which a wind turbine controller operates the wind turbine, the operating curve determining wind turbine settings, in dependence on wind speed (paragraph 0071-0074, 0078-0084 and FIG. 6 “process the prediction data with measured maintenance/wear and tear parameters (provided by module 615) and with other individual turbine parameters measured locally at each turbine to cause the system 600 to shut down the wind turbine, for example, or command other remedial measure though actuator module 619, for example”).
.
As to claim 12, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, More further teaches wherein the renewable energy generating systems comprise at least one or more solar systems, wherein the operating mode for a solar system defines at least one of the following operating features and/or operating parameters:- a current level or current level limit for electrical current provided by the solar system; - a control parameter related to a tracking mechanism of the solar system2001 that generate DC power which is fed into inverter 2009; a tracking control unit (TCU) 2019; a system command unit (SCU) 2021 that may be used to receive commands or report performance data through a control network 2035; a rectifier 2023; an energy storage device (ESD) 2027; a contractor or circuit breaker 2039 that may be used to disconnect the PV power generator from the grid, for example, in the event of failure of first measures to decrease excessive power generated as a result of exposure to excessive sun light; and a transformer 2031 that connects the power generation system to the transmission grid 2033. The inverter 2009 includes a rectifier/inverter 2015”).
As to claim 13, the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
However, Spruce further teaches wherein the plural renewable energy generating systems of the one type comprise plural wind turbines (paragraph 0340), wherein the one or more operating modes comprise one or more common operating modes for the plural wind turbines (paragraph 0340-0341) selected from the group comprising:- a wake adapt common operating mode, in which operation of the wind turbines is adapted on a wind farm level by turning the wind turbines out of the wind by a controllable angle to control wake losses of downstream wind turbines; and - an active yaw control common operating mode, in which the rotors of the wind turbines are turned into plural pre-defined positions using the yaw drive to monitor power output at these different positions and to determine a yaw position for operation of the wind turbines (paragraph 00341-0344 “Changes to the power demand/power level of an upstream turbine or turbines affects the power output and rate of accumulation of fatigue damage of any turbines in the wake of the upstream turbine or turbines”).
As to claim 14, is related to claim 1 with similar limitations also rejected by same rational.
As to claim 15, is related to claim 1 with similar limitations also rejected by same rational.
5. Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spruce USPGPUB 2018/0171979 (hereinafter “Spruce”) in view of More et al. USPGPUB 2013/0184884 (hereinafter “More”) further in view of Qin et al. USP 10447070 B2 (hereinafter “Qin”) further in view of Sampson et al. USPGPUB 2011/0100005 (hereinafter “Sampson”).
As to claim 2. the combination of Spruce, More and Qin teaches all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
The combination does not explicitly teach wherein the plural energy systems comprise at least one hydrogen production system configured to produce hydrogen from electrical energy.
However, Sampson teaches wherein the plural energy systems comprise at least one hydrogen production system configured to produce hydrogen from electrical energy (paragraph 0084-0090 “Hydrogen in the combustible fuel (e.g. a fossil-based fuel) combines with oxygen during the combustion process”).
Spruce, More, Qin and Sampson are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and functional similarities. They both relate to energy management system.
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 energy management system, as taught by Spruce, More and Qin, and incorporating hydrogen production system, as taught by Sampson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to improve the systems used to combine the related technologies to achieve the greatest benefit, as suggested by Sampson (paragraph 0006).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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
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.
SPRUCE et al USPGPUB 2018/0173215 teaches a method of generating a control schedule for a wind turbine is provided, the control schedule indicating how the turbine maximum power level varies over time, the method comprising: determining a value indicative of the current remaining fatigue lifetime of the turbine, or one or more turbine components, based on measured wind turbine site and/or operating data;applying an optimisation function that varies an initial control schedule to determine an optimised control schedule by varying the trade off between energy capture and fatigue life consumed by the turbine or the one or more turbine components until an optimised control schedule is determined, the optimisation including: estimating future fatigue lifetime consumed by the turbine or turbine component over the duration of the varied control schedule based on the current remaining fatigue lifetime and the varied control schedule; and constraining the optimisation of the control schedule according to one or more input constraints; wherein the input constraints include a maximum number of permitted component replacements for one or more turbine components and the optimisation further includes varying an initial value for a wind turbine lifetime to determine a target wind turbine lifetime.
GOPAL et al. USPGPUB 2008/0046387 teaches a system with automatic control of local generation, consumption, storage, buying, and selling of electrical energy is provided. This automation can be governed by optimization criteria and policies established by the administrative entity responsible for the domain benefiting from this invention. The control method, using a data processing computer, implements the optimization criteria and provides near real time directives for the system. The control program estimates energy generation and consumption, monitors voltage and power levels, configures the power circuit and adjusts device specific controls over a network. Depending on a specific situation, the control program can continue to store extra energy, sell energy for a financial gain, maximize sustainable generation to meet social obligations, or increase consumption for extra comfort. This control program optimizes on multiple time granularities under a variable pricing scheme and environmental conditions, with related information including weather forecasts accessed over the Internet.
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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