Privacy Policy
PV CYCLE (hereinafter referred to as "PV CYCLE", "we" or "us") is committed to transparency towards its members, participants and the general public regarding how their personal data is used.
This Privacy Policy contains information about the personal data collected by PV CYCLE and the way in which PV CYCLE uses and processes this personal data.
PV CYCLE wishes to emphasize that it always endeavors to act in accordance with the 2016 EU Regulation on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, as well as all (future) laws of each European Union country implementing this Regulation.
Visiting the Website, accessing PV CYCLE's services, purchasing PV CYCLE's services, subscribing to the newsletter, any communication with PV CYCLE, creating an account, participating in seminars/webinars/events and downloading files all imply your express consent (by providing your personal data or opting in) to this Privacy Policy and thus to how we collect and use your personal data.
Types of personal data
PV CYCLE may collect and process the following personal data:
o Title
o First name
o Last name
o Position – Function
o Nationality
o Gender
o Email address
o Phone number (landline and/or mobile)
o Password (Extranet)
o Date of birth
o Social media data
o Camera and video recordings
o Company name
o Company address
o Invoicing and payment data
o Vehicle registration number
o Geographic location data
o IP address
o Any personal data provided in the "free text field" when completing a contact form
o Any personal data voluntarily provided to PV CYCLE (i.e. in correspondence with PV CYCLE).
In addition, PV CYCLE automatically collects anonymous data about your use of the Website. For example, PV CYCLE will automatically log which part of the Website and Extranet you visited, which web browser you used, and which web pages you viewed when you accessed the Website. We cannot identify you from this data, but it allows PV CYCLE to compile statistics on the use of the Website.
Methods of collecting personal data (including on the Extranet):
This personal data is collected during:
o A visit to the Website
o Creation of an account
o Requesting a quote
o Accessing PV CYCLE's services, whether or not via the Website and/or via the Website on a mobile device or otherwise
o Cooperation with PV CYCLE
o Any correspondence with PV CYCLE
o Invoicing
o Subscribing to the newsletter and updates (whether via the Website or otherwise)
o Participation in customer survey(s)
o Participation in webinars/seminars/events/etc.
o Exchange of business cards
o Verification of your identity (i.e. when a data subject contacts customer service)
o Registration for events and workshops
o Taking photos, videos and recordings during events
o Recording of webinars and conference calls with prior consent
o Visiting the office or building where PV CYCLE is located
o Registration of visitors upon entering the building.
All personal data collected by PV CYCLE is thus provided by you explicitly and voluntarily.
Providing certain personal data is (partly) a requirement for being able to use certain services (e.g. to gain access to certain parts of the Website, i.e. the Extranet, to subscribe to newsletters, to take part in certain activities and events). In this respect, it will be indicated which data must absolutely be provided and which data is optional.
Use of your personal data
PV CYCLE may use your personal data for the following purposes:
o Creating an account and confirming it
o Performing the agreement you enter into with PV CYCLE (including its management)
o Providing support/assistance (e.g. in case of problems)
o Following up on a meeting
o Issuing invoices and processing their payment
o Sending a newsletter and updates
o Answering questions
o Updating the quality, management and content of the Website
o Preparing a quote
o Managing statistics
o Conducting participant satisfaction studies, surveys and other market research
o Registering visitors at the office or building where PV CYCLE is located
o Confirming participation in webinars/seminars/events/etc.
o Responding to legally required publications.
Your personal data is processed on the basis of the following legal grounds (whichever applies):
o You have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes
o Processing is necessary for the performance of the agreement or membership with PV CYCLE, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into an agreement
o Processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which PV CYCLE is subject
o Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
o Processing is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another natural person
o Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by PV CYCLE or third parties, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require the protection of personal data.
Disclosure of your personal data to third parties
PV CYCLE will not disclose your personal data to third parties, except where necessary for the performance of the agreement and/or PV CYCLE's function in the public interest. In this context, your personal data may be shared with PV CYCLE's service providers and competent authorities.
Where it is necessary for PV CYCLE to disclose your personal data to third parties, those third parties must use your personal data in accordance with European law and this Privacy Policy.
Notwithstanding the above, it is possible that PV CYCLE discloses your personal data:
To the competent authorities only where PV CYCLE is required to do so by law or by current or future legal proceedings, and in order to protect and defend its rights;
If PV CYCLE or the majority of its assets are taken over by a third party: in that case, your personal data collected by PV CYCLE will be one of the assets transferred.
Retention of your personal data
Unless a longer retention period is required or justified by law or to comply with other legal obligations, PV CYCLE will only retain your personal data for the period necessary to achieve and fulfil the purposes in question, as set out in this Privacy Policy under "Use of your personal data".
Your privacy rights
With regard to the processing of your personal data, you have the following privacy rights:
o Right to rectify, complete or update your personal data
o Right to erasure of your personal data ("right to be forgotten"). (PV CYCLE would like to point out that certain services may no longer be accessible and/or may no longer be provided if you delete, or request the deletion of, certain required personal data)
o Right to restrict the processing of your personal data
o Right to data portability
o Right to withdraw consent/object to the processing of your personal data
o Right of access to your personal data.
If you would like to exercise your privacy rights, please contact info@pvcycle.org . You may exercise these rights free of charge via the email address above.
If you no longer wish to receive newsletters or information about PV CYCLE's services, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of any of PV CYCLE's non-personal emails, or by replying with the text "unsubscribe".
Security of your personal data
PV CYCLE implements appropriate physical, technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorized access to your personal data and the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.
PV CYCLE will store all collected personal data on-site and in cloud data centers within and outside the European Union.
Despite PV CYCLE's security policies as well as the controls carried out and measures proposed by PV CYCLE, an infallible level of security cannot be guaranteed. Since no method of transmission over the internet and no method of electronic storage is 100% secure, PV CYCLE is not in a position to guarantee absolute security in this respect.
EXTRANET
The security of your account also partly depends on the confidentiality and complexity of your password. PV CYCLE will never ask you for your password, which means you should never disclose it to anyone in person. If you have nevertheless shared your password with third parties — for example, because those third parties claimed to offer additional services — those third parties will have access to your account and your personal data through your password. In such cases, you are liable for any transactions resulting from the use of your account that you have caused. PV CYCLE therefore strongly advises you to change your password immediately and notify us if you notice that someone has accessed your account.
Updates to our Privacy Policy
PV CYCLE is entitled to update this Privacy Policy by publishing a new version on its website. It is therefore strongly recommended that you regularly check the website and the Privacy Policy page to ensure you are aware of any changes.
Other websites
The Website may contain hyperlinks to other websites. If you click on one of these links, you may be redirected to another website or internet resource that could collect data about you via cookies or other technologies. PV CYCLE assumes no responsibility, liability or supervisory control over these other websites or internet resources, nor over their collection, use and disclosure of your personal data. You should review the privacy notices of these other websites and internet resources in order to assess whether they comply with applicable data protection laws.
Contacting PV CYCLE
If you have any questions and/or comments about this Privacy Policy or the way in which PV CYCLE collects, uses and/or processes your personal data, please contact us:
by email: info@pvcycle.org or
by post: Brand Whitlocklaan 114 box 5, 1200 Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, Belgium
PV CYCLE Deutschland GmbH – Commitment to the environmental policy objectives of the WEEE Directive within the PV CYCLE collection system
Planning and implementing the proper, i.e. resource- and climate-friendly, disposal of a durable product such as a solar module is a major challenge.
It places specific demands on the organization of all necessary measures and processes.
From the outset, it was PV CYCLE's goal to develop an industry-oriented system that meets these requirements and holds all market participants accountable.
PV CYCLE has therefore initiated administrative and operational processes and built collection structures that integrate the disposal of modules into the solar industry's value chain — sales, distribution, installation and maintenance.
- The affiliated manufacturers/producers (approx. 90% of the market) have financed this system.
- Compliant disposal has been and continues to be guaranteed for every end user wishing or required to dispose of modules, regardless of quantity (> 150 collection points and a nationwide, partly free of charge pick-up service from construction sites).
Many of the core principles and environmental objectives of the WEEE Directive and the German ElektroG are embodied in the PV CYCLE collection system!
If the last owner neglects these obligations, they run a major risk of being penalized with a substantial fine and, in the case of distributors or plant operators, with a sales ban .
<h3>Control of processes by the EAR Foundation and the UBA</h3>
The management and supervision of all administrative and operational processes under the ElektroG lies with the private Foundation Elektro-Altgeräte Register (EAR):
The EAR was established by manufacturers in the electrical and electronics industry as the "Joint Body" before the first ElektroG came into force on 24 March 2006, and is authorized by an "entrustment decision" to assume, in a sovereign capacity, the management and supervision of all processes on behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
As the competent federal authority, the UBA is responsible for correctly reporting collection and recycling results to the European Commission.
The UBA is also the enforcing authority in the event of violations of the ElektroG regulations.
Specifically, the EAR Foundation performs the following tasks:
- Registration of manufacturers placing electrical equipment on the market in Germany, or, in the case of authorization under Section 8 of the ElektroG, of their authorized representatives
- Guarantee verification
- Determination of collective manufacturer guarantee schemes
- Recording of the quantities of electrical equipment placed on the market
- Coordination of the provision of containers for collection points and of waste equipment pick-up from public waste management authorities
- Levying of fees for the public services it provides
Source: https://www.stiftung-ear.de/de/ueber-uns
The EAR Foundation is the national WEEE register in Germany.
- All producers/manufacturers of solar modules are required to register.
- All commercial last owners are subject to the same disposal obligations as producers and manufacturers.
- The EAR Foundation supervises all disposal processes.
- Identified regulatory violations are reported to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and can result in substantial fines and severe sales bans.
<h3>Critical remarks on current disposal practices under the ElektroG — a statement by PV CYCLE</h3>
PV CYCLE expressly supports the environmental objectives of the WEEE Directive and the ElektroG.
Current disposal practices under the ElektroG have so far failed to meet the challenges of disposing of a durable product such as a PV module:
Collection at public recycling centers (örE) is neither adequate nor efficient:
- In many cases, last owners required to dispose of modules are turned away by the örE,
- To this day there are no truly standardized containers for PV modules as there are for other waste electrical and electronic equipment (hardly solvable given the differing composition and dimensions of the modules).
- The necessary individual coordination of transport-safe provision is not possible within the anonymity of the pick-up system (EAR pick-up coordination).
- Numerous wasted trips occur because the örE refuse to accept delivered containers (completely inefficient both ecologically and economically)
- The average load weight per örE is under one tonne, which, relative to the often large distances involved, is likewise ecologically and economically inefficient.
- Collection rates at örE collection points are astonishingly low (< 1%)
- Industry's willingness to additionally finance, on a voluntary basis, a significantly more efficient brand-independent system for collecting all modules (PV CYCLE) has been reduced to a considerably smaller number of manufacturers (20%).
As a result, frustrated end users who have been refused acceptance of their old modules seek cheap or free disposal alternatives that are then simply not compliant with the ElektroG!