General Terms and Conditions of Use

 

The operator of the Internet portal SecondSol.com as well as any mobile applications (APP) (hereinafter collectively referred to as online services) is 

 

SECONDSOL GmbH

 

Frank Fiedler – Managing Director

Stefan Wippich – Managing Director


Märzenquelle 6
98617 Meiningen

Germany

Phone: +49 (0)3693 88 60 481
Fax:      +49 3693 88 56 070
E-mail:   info@SECONDSOL.de

 

(hereinafter uniformly referred to as “SECONDSOL”)

 

For the use of the online services, the following terms and conditions as well as price regulations apply. 

 

The above-mentioned online services of SecondSol (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "online services") include the following contents on the subject of 

 

photovoltaics – solar thermal energy – electromobility – renewable energy systems

 

  • Marketplace for new and used products and PV systems
  • Marketplace for services
  • Business directory
  • Job advertisements
  • Event overview
  • Ad placements
    • Editorial content

 

For the use of the online services, the following terms and conditions as well as price regulations apply: 

 

General terms and conditions 

Terms of use of free services 

Terms and conditions marketplace 

Privacy policy 

Price list of paid services

 

General terms and conditions        

1. General provisions

2. Registration

3. Conclusion of the contract

4. User account

5. Obligations of the user | Data protection

6. Liability SecondSol | Warranty 

7. Copyrights and trademarks | Exemption

8. Changes to services and changes to the terms and conditions of use

9. Termination of user relationship | Deletion of customer account

10. Data protection

11. Final provisions

12. Settlement of disputes

  

1. General provisions

1.1   For the use of the portals by you (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "user") the following or the above mentioned terms and conditions in the respective valid version, the privacy policy of SecondSol as well as the law of the FRG apply exclusively. Mandatory consumer protection norms of the respective countries of origin of the users shall not be excluded by the applicable choice of law.


1.2   The gender-neutral term "user" incudes all persons affected by data processing. "Users" are customers, business partners, potential clients and all other visitors to our online services.


1.3   The court of jurisdiction is Meiningen. 


1.4   Deviating conditions of the user are only valid after written confirmation from SecondSol. 


1.5   Communication is exclusively electronic by e-mail and/or, for registered users, via the user area after registration. Communication by e-mail does not meet the requirements for the protection of user data, as unencrypted e-mail messages may be read by third parties and data may therefore fall into the hands of third parties. SecondSol will therefore keep e-mail communication and the provision of personal data in e-mail traffic to a minimum. If the user contacts SecondSol by e-mail, they agree to the correspondence by e-mail. 

 

2. Registration

2.1   The use of the online services may require registration. The details are regulated in the additional conditions:

 

Terms of use - free services for consumers

Terms and conditions marketplace   

 

2.2   The use is exclusively permitted for legal entities, partnerships and natural persons with unlimited legal competency. Minors are not permitted to register.  


2.3   Registration starts with a registration mask and a query of the user status (system operator, dealer, manufacturer, installation company, insurer, etc.). The data requested there must be truthful, complete, up-to-date and correct, if and to the extent that they are not marked as voluntary information. 


2.4   The user is obliged to keep the information up to date at all times.


2.5   The use of artist names, pseudonyms or other imaginative names is not permitted. It is also forbidden to register a user account with third party or otherwise incorrect information. 


2.6   Registration data, especially the user name (= e-mail address) must not violate applicable law or offend common decency or the trademark and name rights of third parties.


2.7   Multiple user accounts may not be created for the same natural person, legal entity or majority of persons.


2.8   SecondSol does not generally verify the identity of users. Therefore it is not possible to determine with certainty whether a registered user actually represents the natural or legal entity that was specified during registration. SecondSol therefore reserves the right to request proof of the submitted data during registration or at a later date.


2.9   For the use of online services requiring registration, registration must be completed according to the 

 

Terms of use - free services for consumers

Terms and conditions marketplace   

 

Including the mandatory details listed there.

2.10 SECONDSOL reserves the right to reject users or restrict their use without giving reasons. In this case, the data provided by the user will be deleted immediately.

2.11 SECONDSOL reserves the right to request proof of the submitted data during registration or during the period of use.

 

3. Conclusion of the contract

3.1   By sending the registration mask, the user submits an offer to conclude a user contract. After registration, users will receive a confirmation of registration with an activation link to the e-mail address specified in the registration form. The registration is only completed after activating the activation link. With the access of the activation link a user contract for the use of the SecondSol online services is concluded.


3.2   The user accepts these terms and conditions of use and, depending on the use of the SecondSol online services, the respective following terms 

 

Terms of use - free services for consumers

Terms and conditions marketplace   

 

3.3   The user assures SECONDSOL that they are of age. If the user also or exclusively acts on behalf of a legal entity, they warrant that they are authorised by the legal entity to act on its behalf.

 

4. User account

4.1   After successful registration, SecondSol creates a user account for the user. Access to the user account requires the entry of the e-mail address entered during registration and the chosen password. The password can be changed at any time in the password protected user area. 


4.2   The login data must be kept secret, carefully secured against access by unauthorised persons, and may not be made available to third parties. In case of suspicion of misuse by third parties the owner(s) of the user account are obligated to inform SecondSol immediately and change the password.

 

5. Obligations of the user | Data protection

5.1   Compliance with these General Terms and Conditions of Use ensures the functionality of the online services. Therefore, users are prohibited from any actions that endanger the operation of the SECONDSOL online services or excessively harass other users. This includes all actions that go beyond the intended use of the SECONDSOL online services and/or are likely to impair the technical functions of the SECONDSOL online services.


5.2   SecondSol can impose sanctions against users if and insofar as concrete, actual evidence is found that a user has violated 

 

  • clause 5.1
  • legal provisions
  • the rights of others
  • common decency 

 

  • or such a violation is to be feared. 


5.3   SecondSol is also authorised to remove incriminated content without separate notice. 


5.4   SecondSol reserves the right to exclude individual users from use in the case of illegal use or use in violation of the contract, to block or delete existing customer accounts, to terminate the contract of use without notice in accordance with clause 9, and to demand the registration of a customer account for each future use. 


5.5   Depending on the circumstances of the individual case, SecondSol will inform the criminal prosecution authorities, data protection authorities or the responsible supervisory and regulatory authorities of the particular matter.


5.6   The user is obligated to secure and archive all data stored by SecondSol in connection with the use of the SecondSol online services outside of the user account for purposes of preservation of evidence, bookkeeping or other purposes so that users can access this data independently of the SecondSol online services. 

 

6. Liability | Warranty

6.1   The statutory warranty rights exist.


6.2   SecondSol assumes no liability for the constant availability of the online services and the accessibility of the servers. SecondSol is also not liable for service disruptions on the Internet, as a result of force majeure or through disturbance of labour peace as well as in the case of a business interruption or system failure. 


6.3   SecondSol is liable to users without limitation 

 

  • for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health that are based on an intentional or negligent breach of duty, as well as
  • for damages which are based on an intentional or negligent violation of essential contractual obligations. Essential contractual obligations are contractual obligations whose fulfilment is essential for the proper execution of the contract and on whose compliance the user may rely in any case.
  • for other damages, which are based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty 

 

and

 

up to the amount of contract-typical foreseeable damages for other damages culpably caused by SecondSol, their legal representatives, employees or other vicarious agents.


6.4   A further liability of SecondSol is excluded.


6.5   The above provisions apply accordingly to the limitation of the obligation to pay compensation for futile expenditures and in favour of the employees, representatives and vicarious agents of SecondSol.


6.6   Listings on the marketplace and/or other content posted by users do not reflect the opinion of SecondSol. Users place listings without being checked by SecondSol for their legality, correctness and completeness. A guarantee for the correctness and completeness of the information posted by users and/or for the quality, compliance with security standards and/or legal requirements (e.g. approval of products for the EU, CE seal of approval) of the goods or services offered by users is not assumed by SecondSol.

 

7. Copyrights and trademarks | Exemption

7.1   SECONDSOL points out that the content published within the framework of the online services (trademarks, written works, photographs and illustrations, videos and other content) is always protected by copyright. Any other use (reproduction, use on other portals, etc.) is only permitted if the use is permitted in individual cases by the holder of the rights (SECONDSOL and/or authors/right holders) or the legal limits of copyright. 


7.2   The user exempts SecondSol from all claims that other users or other third parties assert against SecondSol due to violation of their rights by the offers and contents posted by the user on the SecondSol marketplace or due to their other use of the SecondSol homepage (including the evaluations they have submitted). The user takes over the costs of the necessary legal defence of SecondSol including all court and lawyer costs also beyond the fees of the lawyer remuneration law, e.g. an agreement on fees. This does not apply if the user is not responsible for the violation of rights. The user is obligated to provide SecondSol immediately, truthfully and completely with all information necessary for the examination of claims and a defence in the event of a claim by third parties.

 

8. Changes to services and changes to the terms and conditions of use

8.1   SecondSol is entitled to make changes to the general terms of use and the additional terms and conditions, unless this is not reasonable for the user. The user may object to the change within a period of 6 weeks after receipt of the changed terms and conditions. If the user does not object to the amendment within 6 weeks or continues to use the online services in spite of being informed of the changes, the amended terms and conditions shall be deemed accepted.


8.2   SecondSol also reserves the right to change the general terms of use and the additional terms and conditions even if:

 

  • the change only brings advantages for the user, 
  • additional, completely new services or service elements are introduced and these must be included in the general terms of use, 
  • the changes are of a purely technical or procedural nature and have no significant impact on users, 
  • the general terms of use and the additional terms and conditions must be adapted to the applicable legal situation or as a result of a court ruling or a decision by the authorities.

 

SecondSol will also inform the users about the changes. 


8.3   SecondSol is authorised to change the specification of service. Changes will only be implemented if this is necessary for a valid reason, if the user is not put in a worse position than with the specification of service included in the contract, and if the changes do not clearly deviate from it. A valid reason shall be if there are technical innovations on the market for the service owed or if changes become necessary by third parties (in particular due to new unforeseeable technical developments, changes in case law, changes in legal requirements or other equivalent reasons). If the amendment significantly disturbs essential regulations of the contractual relationship or the contractual balance between the parties, the amendment shall not be made. The user will be sent the amended terms and conditions to the e-mail address on file and/or will be notified for inspection and confirmation during registration.


8.4   SecondSol is obligated to inform users of the significance of the 6-week period by means of an e-mail or a notice during the registration process.


8.5   If users do not agree with the changes, the account can be closed as long as no fee-based services are used or payments are outstanding.   


8.6   The right of termination under clause 9 remains unaffected. 

 

9. Termination of user relationship | Deletion of customer account 

9.1   The user can at any time terminate the contractual relationship and close their user account.


9.2   SecondSol may terminate the user contract at any time without giving reasons with a notice period of fourteen (14) business days. The right to extraordinary termination of the user contract at any time without notice in case of an important reason still exists. Good cause for extraordinary termination shall be deemed to exist if the continuation of the contractual relationship until the expiry of the notice period is not reasonable for the terminating party, taking into account all circumstances of the individual case and weighing the interests of both parties. 


9.3   With the deletion of the customer account by the user, the stored user data is immediately deleted. Excluded from this are user data which SecondSol is obligated to retain due to legal regulations (e.g. tax and/or commercial retention obligations) even after the end of the contractual relationship. 


9.4   Once the termination takes effect, the functions and/or services/packages linked to the user account are no longer available. 

 

10. Data protection

Users can view the privacy policy (https://de.sesodev.de/en/privacy_police/) here. There users receive all information regarding the capture, processing and use of personal data in connection with the use of the SECONDSOL online services (registration, implementation of the user agreement, marketplace use). 

 

11. Final provisions

11.1   SECONDSOL and its subsidiaries may use third parties for the purpose of fulfilling the contract and exercising the rights to which the respective contracting party is entitled under this contract.


11.2   SECONDSOL is entitled to transfer its rights and obligations under this contractual relationship in whole or in part to a third party with a notice period of four weeks.  


11.3   The contract is subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The application of the UN Sales Convention is excluded. For consumers residing in the EU, the mandatory provisions of the consumer protection law of the respective member state in which the user is resident shall apply.


11.4   For users who have their permanent residence in another EU country, it is agreed that the place of jurisdiction shall be Meiningen or the courts having local jurisdiction for Meiningen.


11.5   For business transactions with merchants, the place of performance and jurisdiction is the domicile of SECONDSOL. If the domicile or main residence of the commercial user is unknown at the time of filing proceedings or if the commercial user has moved their domicile or main residence outside the territory of the law after the conclusion of the contract, the domicile of SECONDSOL shall be deemed court of jurisdiction.

11.6   Should individual provisions of these terms of use be invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. Ineffective provisions shall be replaced by provisions which come closest to the intended meaning of the invalid provision. This shall also apply in the event of any loopholes in the regulations.

 

12. Settlement of disputes

The European Commission provides a platform for the extrajudicial online settlement of disputes (so-called ODR platform) at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. In accordance with § 36 VSBG (Consumer Dispute Resolution Act), SECONDSOL draws the user's attention to the fact that SECONDSOL is not obliged to take part in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board and does not take part in such consumer arbitration.

 

 

Terms of use - free services for consumers

 

1. Services not subject to registration

2. Services subject to registration 

3. Comment function

 

The following terms of use apply to the use of free services that do not require registration.

 

1. Services not subject to registration

Services not subject to registration include:

  • SecondSol marketplace (viewing and inquiries)
  • Requesting services from service providers 
  • Viewing business directory and inquiries (overview of photovoltaic, solar thermal, and electromobility service providers)
  • View job offers 
  • View events
  • Editorial contributions (such as interviews, articles, studies, reviews etc.) 

 

2. Services subject to registration 

2.1.  Services subject to registration include: 

  • Full use of the marketplace
  • Submit product requests
  • Comment function
  • Newsletter

2.2.  The following information is required for the use of the services requiring registration 

  • E-mail address
  • Personal password of choice
  • First and last name
  • Postcode, town, country
  • For business users: company name and VAT number

 

3. Comment function

3.1.  Comments are text contributions which users can make visible to third parties under existing editorial contributions or comments of other users, videos, photo galleries or other multimedia content with visibility of their name and possibly a profile picture. 


3.2.  The users grant SecondSol a free, temporally and spatially unrestricted and transferable right of use to the comments written by users and profile pictures used by the user to make the written comments and profile pictures publicly accessible or have them made publicly accessible using every technical means of transmission. The user allows SecondSol to transmit their contribution as a text file, via apps (and similar applications, as e-paper, SMS, MMS, via push services, RSS feeds) and social media providers (e.g. SecondSol channels on Twitter and Facebook) or with the help of previously unknown transmission and usage methods. These rights of use remain unaffected by the termination of the user contract, the deletion of the user account or the deletion of the contribution. They include the right of editing, in particular the right of shortening. The legal protection of the author's moral rights remains unaffected.


3.3.  SecondSol does not tolerate discriminating, racist or pornographic contributions, even if these do not constitute a violation of the law in individual cases. The user is responsible for ensuring that their contributions do not violate the rights of third parties (in particular personal rights, copyrights, related rights, trademark rights) and do not violate applicable law. Links that refer to illegal content on third-party sites are not permitted. 


3.4.  SecondSol asks users to inform info@secondsol.de as soon as possible if they discover entries by third parties that violate the law.


3.5.  Users can contact SecondSol via info@secondsol.de if they have questions about this. 


3.6.  In addition, the General Terms and Conditions apply.