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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/21/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Roberts et al US 11532939 A1 herein after “Roberts”.
Regarding claim 1, Roberts teach an equipment performance calculation device for calculating the performance of at least one of a power generation device and a storage battery for a base station including the power generation device using renewable energy and the storage battery (col 6. Line 35. FIG. 1 shows an example of a system 100 that provides energy management of various managed devices 132 based on solar power generation, power usage, and one or more user settings. The system 100 can include a controller 110... col. 6 line 49. The system 100 includes a solar power system 160 that provides power to the property 101 including, among other things, the managed devices 132. The solar power system 160 and/or one or more solar panels 155 can be referred to as a solar power generator. During a solar power generation surplus, the solar power system 160 can transfer energy from the solar panels 155 to the battery system 165),
Examiner views a controller 110 manages (i.e. an equipment performance device that calculates) the performance of solar (or renewable energy) power generation panels and a battery of a power system 100 (i.e., base station) in Fig. 1. the equipment performance calculation device comprising circuitry configured to:
acquire power consumption amount information related to a power consumption amount of the base station (Fig. 1 and 2, col. 8, line 54 At 210, the controller measures current power consumption. In some implementations, the controller communicates with a centralized smart power meter to measure current power consumption. In some implementations, the controller communicates with power consumption meters attached to appliances, e.g., the managed devices 132. At 215, the controller determines whether the power consumption is less than the solar power generation.),
Examiner views the controller communicates (i.e., receive or acquire) the amount of power consumed in the power system 100 (i.e., of the base station)
power generation amount information indicating a power generation amount of the power generation device (Fig. 1 and 2 col. 8 line 51. At 205, the controller measures solar power generation. In some implementations, a solar power system includes a sensor that measures solar power generation and sends the measurement to the controller.), and facility information related to a facility present in an area including a position of the base station (Fig. 1. Line 41. The various components of the system 100 can be located in and associated with a property 101 such as a home or an office.
col. 8 line 7. The user device 140 can include a system access application. For example, the user device 140 can load or install the system access application based on data received over a network 105 or data received from local media. In some implementations, the system access application of the user device 140 identifies a geographic location associated with the user device 140 and communicates information identifying the geographic location to the application server 150. The controller 110 can detect whether a user is presently located inside or outside the property 101);
From above paragraph and Fig. 1, Examiner views the home or office (i.e., facility) in a location (i.e., area) including a position of the power system (i.e., base station) determined by geographic location in a user device 140. and
calculate the performance based on the acquired power consumption amount information, the power generation amount information and the facility information (Fig. 3. Col. 9 line 1. If the power consumption is less than the solar power generation, the controller determines a battery charging status at 220. In some implementations, a solar power system includes one or more batteries to store excess solar power and one or more battery sensors coupled with the one or more batteries. The battery sensors can be configured to determine whether the one or more batteries are charging or discharging.
col 9 line 37. If solar power generation is less than power consumption, the controller at 315 has detected a solar power deficit. At 320, the controller retrieves a device from a device list. In some implementations, the device list is arranged based on device identifiers. In some implementations, the device list is arranged based on energy utilization priority. In some implementations, the controller can retrieve a group of devices from the device list based on a priority level. In some implementations, the controller accesses a database of devices that its manages. For example, the device list can include identifiers for devices such as a HVAC system, television, lights, water features such as fountains or pools, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and medical equipment).
Examiner views the controller measures or calculates the performance (i.e., production of more or less of power) of the solar power system with batteries (i.e., charging or discharging) based on the power consumption amount by the facility devices or information (i.e., HVAC, televisions, washer, dryer etc.) and power generation amount by solar power generator.
Regarding claim 2, Roberts teach the equipment performance calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry acquires, as the facility information, a parameter according to a type of facility present in the area including the position of the base station (col 5. Line 25. An energy management system can make energy decisions based on information such as current solar power generation from a local panel array, current battery reserve levels, current energy usage, projected solar power generation based on time-of-day, sun position and weather patterns, projected energy usage based on historical patterns, and current grid energy prices. The energy management system can combine this information with user-defined preferences or observed user behavior to adjust one or more variables to decrease energy usage when solar power generation, power reserves, or both are low. Alternatively, the system can adjust the variables to increase energy usage when solar power generation, power reserves, or both are high. For example, a user may prefer to set the HVAC to keep the home temperature at 72° during the summer, but the user may be willing to have it as high as 78° to save energy.
Fig. 1. Line 41. The various components of the system 100 can be located in and associated with a property 101 such as a home or an office.),
Examiner views the controller obtains, home or office with devices (i.e., type of facility) as a parameter information, the home or office devices present in the area including the position of the power system (i.e., base station)
and calculates the performance using a pre-stored calculation equation for calculating the performance, the calculation equation including, as a variable, the acquired parameter according to a type of facility (col 12. Line 44. In some implementations, the power status is a predicted power status that is based on a predicted power consumption value and a predicted solar power generation value. In some implementations, the power status is based on a user preference record regarding energy management criteria. For example, the controller can access a user preference record about energy cost management, e.g., a user preference to keep a total power bill or total energy usage under a predetermined amount per billing cycle. For example, a user preference can cause the controller to induce a power deficit state to prevent a monthly power bill from exceeding a predetermined amount. In some implementations, the user preference can induce a power surplus state as long as a total power bill for the month is predicted to be under a predetermined amount.)
Here Examiner views the predicted power status is based on the predicted power consumption value and predicted solar power generation value (i.e., power system performance or status using a prestored calculation equation or formula) at the power generation system. The home or office (i.e., facility type, parameter) electricity/energy use as a variable used for power status to induce a power deficit/surplus state at the power generation system.
Regarding claim 3, Roberts teach the equipment performance calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the power generation device is a solar power generation device (Abstract: Systems and techniques for solar energy management are described. A described system includes circuitry to determine a solar power generation value based on a power output of a solar power generator configured to supply electricity to a plurality of devices associated with a property).
Regarding claim 4, Roberts teach the equipment performance calculation device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry acquires environmental information indicating an environment at a position where the base station is installed (col 8. Line 11. In some implementations, the system access application of the user device 140 identifies a geographic location associated with the user device 140 and communicates information identifying the geographic location to the application server 150.
Col 8 line 39. In some implementations, the application server 150 can provide information such as weather patterns such that the controller 110 can predict solar power generation.)
Examiner views the controller obtains a weather (i.e., environment information) at the geographic location of the power system (i.e., base station installed), and estimates the power generation amount of the power generation device based on the acquired environmental information to acquire the power generation amount information (col 5. Line 25. An energy management system can make energy decisions based on information such as current solar power generation from a local panel array, current battery reserve levels, current energy usage, projected solar power generation based on time-of-day, sun position and weather patterns, projected energy usage based on historical patterns, and current grid energy prices. The energy management system can combine this information with user-defined preferences or observed user behavior to adjust one or more variables to decrease energy usage when solar power generation, power reserves, or both are low. Alternatively, the system can adjust the variables to increase energy usage when solar power generation, power reserves, or both are high. For example, a user may prefer to set the HVAC to keep the home temperature at 72° during the summer, but the user may be willing to have it as high as 78° to save energy.)
Examiner views the controller estimates power generation based on the weather patterns, sun position (i.e., environmental information).
Regarding claim 5, Roberts teach the equipment performance calculation device according to claim 2, wherein the power generation device is a solar power generation device (Abstract: Systems and techniques for solar energy management are described. A described system includes circuitry to determine a solar power generation value based on a power output of a solar power generator configured to supply electricity to a plurality of devices associated with a property).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chaudhari et al US 20200294160 A1 discusses estimating performance of photovoltaic systems.
Williams et al US 20120310427 A1 discusses identifying issues for a solar panel array.
Bintz et al US 20170104447 A1 discusses managing a photovoltaic power system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHARAD TIMILSINA whose telephone number is (571)272-7104. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Catherine Rastovski can be reached at 571-270-0349. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHARAD TIMILSINA/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/Catherine T. Rastovski/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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