These conditions of use (hereinafter Terms of Use) refer to the use of the websites operated by Solar Promotion and its affiliated companies (hereinafter Solar Promotion Websites), such as The smarter E, Intersolar, ees, Power2Drive and EM-Power, as well as the global exhibition events and specialist conferences organized by the Solar Promotion Group. For information on who is responsible for which website please refer to the legal notice of the website in question. The Solar Promotion Group currently comprises:
Furthermore, these Terms of Use apply to the The smarter E login account (hereinafter The smarter E Login) offered by Solar Promotion GmbH (hereinafter Solar Promotion) as a central customer login for the Solar Promotion Group’s websites.
Visiting the Solar Promotion Group’s websites is possible without registering a The smarter E Login account; however, without an account, not all of the website functions, services and contents are available or accessible. Registering a The smarter E Login account is free of charge for all website users (hereinafter Users) and the login account may be terminated at any time. The The smarter E Login should improve the usability, in particular by selecting and prioritizing the most relevant content from the extensive information and services offered by the the Solar Promotion Group based on a usage profile, and by enabling access to additional website contents and exclusive offerings. Furthermore, similarly to a browser software, the User can bookmark any important website contents to save time when wishing to retrieve the information. The websites contain some paid content and some that is free of charge. Content that must be paid for is indicated as such.
Additionally, section XI. regulates the conditions of participation for the “The smarter E Industry Days” event.
These Terms of Use apply likewise for visits to Solar Promotion’s websites and for both the creation and use of a The smarter E login account, which grants access to a personalized website extension as well for paid The smarter E Digital tickets and paid Premium Accounts. Certain services and offerings on Solar Promotion Websites, or services which can be booked via these websites, may be subject to additional terms of use, contractual terms or terms and conditions, which will be mentioned where they apply.
By visiting and using Solar Promotion Websites, the user accepts the below Terms of Use; the provisions for The smarter E Login, which is required for a Premium Account, shall only apply once a user account has been registered.
These Terms of Use do not apply to consumers, but only to entrepreneurs (or their staff) because the contents, functions and services offered on the website – in particular the The smarter E Login – having due regard for their function are addressed and reserved to commercial enterprises and public-law institutions. For the purpose of these Terms of Use, an entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity, which, in concluding the contract, acts in the execution of its commercial or independent professional activity (section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
The Solar Promotion Group reserves its copyrights as well as all other rights to website content, databases and brands belonging to it. Users are not permitted to copy contents or make contents available via the Internet to third parties in violation of applicable copyright provisions.
The Solar Promotion Group assumes no liability for the correctness, completeness and up-to-dateness of the editorial website contents, and furthermore assumes no liability for an unrestricted availability of the websites and the functions, contents and offers therein, in particular The smarter E login account, The smarter E Digital ticket and the Premium Account. Interruptions or outages may occur due to malfunctions and maintenance work.
The customer must meet certain technical requirements (e.g. a sufficiently stable internet connection) in order to use the content.
The user is not entitled to continuous or permanent availability of any and all content posted. The operator may remove individual elements of content from the platform at any time and without prior notice. The operator is well within their rights to make content that was previously available free of charge payable in the future and to provide additional services that are likewise subject to additional fees.
Operators of The smarter E Login account service and contracting party with respect to the usage of the account is Solar Promotion GmbH, Kiehnlestr. 16, 75172 Pforzheim, Germany. They are also the data controller in accordance with Article 4 (7) GDPR, together (Article 26 GDPR) with Solar Promotion International GmbH (Kiehnlestr. 16, 75172 Pforzheim), and the agreed point of enquiry for data subjects with respect to data protection. Since the The smarter E Login account service serves as the central user account for all Solar Promotion Websites, Solar Promotion may transfer the account data to Solar Promotion International GmbH to the extent necessary, or to allow shared use, when the user uses the websites of Solar Promotion International GmbH.
To register, please use the online registration procedure provided by Solar Promotion. The following User information is mandatory:
Registration of an account is limited to usage in the context of the User’s exercise of his or her trade, business or profession (Section 14 BGB). By registering, the User agrees not to register and use the account in his/her function as a consumer (no usage for private purposes). Solar Promotion reserves the right to ask the User for proof hereof (e.g. information about the company or professional activity, extract from the commercial or trade register).
The User may abort the registration process at any time by closing the website window; or the User may close the account at any later time.
The User can finalize registration by clicking on the “Sign up now” button and Solar Promotion will then send a confirmation email to the email address entered as well as an authentication link to confirm and verify the email address provided by the User. The email address must be confirmed within 48 hours (double opt-in). The account agreement will come into force once the User has confirmed the email address and the confirmation email has been sent to the User, or, at the latest, once the account has been opened. If the User does not confirm within 48 hours, the data entered during registration will be immediately and permanently deleted. Solar Promotion reserves the right to accept or decline the conclusion of contract at its own discretion. The User does not have a legal right to the contract being concluded.
Depending on the User’s selection, the contractual language of the account registration process is either German or English. Solar Promotion reserves the right to add other contractual languages.
Within the profile, Users may provide further personal details and personal areas of interest on a voluntary basis, either during the initial online registration process or in the course of subsequent usage.
The User must provide the mandatory information requested during registration completely and truthfully. Information provided voluntarily by the User must also be truthful and must not contain any illegal content or infringe the rights of third parties. If the User provides personal information about third parties, he/she is responsible for its legality and, in case of doubt, must obtain the prior consent of the third party concerned. Solar Promotion will keep any information given by the User confidentially and will only use it in accordance with these Terms of Use and statutory provisions. For more detailed information please read Solar Promotion’s privacy policy. By entering data, the User grants Solar Promotion a royalty-free right, without limitations in terms of time or place, to use the data on behalf of the User for the purpose of operating the Solar Promotion Websites and their functions.
The User is responsible for keeping his/her contact details (in particular the email address) up to date and for ensuring that he/he can be reached at the address provided and that the email address is not transferred to another person. Each User may only create one account. User accounts are non-transferrable.
The Login area of the The smarter E websites can only be accessed with a valid registration.
If you enter a wrong combination of email address and password several times, your account will be temporarily locked for security reasons. Once the account has been unlocked, the User may log on using his/her access data, or chose the “Forgot password” function in order to change the password.
Furthermore, Users are offered a quick login. When changing to another The smarter E website, for which the The smarter E Login is valid, Users can identify themselves and log in with just one click without having to enter their data again, provided the browser settings allow this. In addition, Users have the option of using a permanent login by selecting the respective option during the login process. In this case, a permanent login cookie is set, which remains in place until the next logout, or for a maximum of one year. When a User is logged in on several websites belonging to The smarter E, the logout is performed for all websites.
The User must keep the access data, in particular the password, secret and protect it securely from unauthorized access by third parties. If a User suspects that an unauthorized third party has obtained the access data or has logged on using his/her user account, the user agrees to immediately report this to Solar Promotion, and to immediately change the password. Solar Promotion reserves the right to lock the account until the matter has been cleared up.
Accounts created using the The smarter E Login may only be used in accordance with these Terms of Use and only for the purposes stated above.
Each party may cancel these Terms of Use with immediate effect and without stating any reasons. Users can delete a personal profile themselves by selecting “Delete account” within their own login area. Confirming the deletion blocks all data pertaining to the account; after the end of the statutory storage period, all data will be irrevocably deleted by Solar Promotion.
Solar Promotion reserves the right to block an account at any time in the case of a violation of these Terms of Use or of statutory provisions as well as in the case of misuse, or suspicion thereof, until the matter has been clarified and – if clarification is not possible or if the violation has been confirmed – to delete the account. User data may also be deleted after 12 months of inactivity. The Usage Contract ends upon deletion of the data.
Deleting their account does not release the customer from their contractual payment obligations.
How the paid content is presented in the online store does not constitute a legally binding offer, rather it merely serves as a non-binding overview.
Access to paid content requires the registration of a The smarter E Login account (see section IV.).
To begin the order process, the user must select each product (e.g. a Premium Account) by checking the respective box and clicking on “Upgrade now”. If the user is not logged in to their The smarter E Login account, they can log in by clicking “I already have an account” and entering the required data. If the user has not registered an account, they can access the registration page by clicking “I want to sign up” (see section IV.).
The final registration page allows users to correct any errors in the data they entered. This is also where the General Terms and Conditions can be opened, printed and saved. The order process may be interrupted at any time by closing the browser window.
The user provides their personal data by entering it in the intended fields.
The following user information is mandatory:
An order is limited to use within the scope of the user’s commercial or independent professional activity (pursuant to Section 14 BGB). By placing an order, the user agrees not to register and use the account as a consumer, i.e. they agree not to use it for private purposes. Solar Promotion reserves the right to ask the user for proof hereof (e.g. information about the company or professional activity, extract from the commercial or trade register).
By clicking on “order and pay”, or by selecting PayPal as the payment method and clicking on the “PayPal” button, the user submits a binding offer to conclude the contract and agrees to the General Terms and Conditions.
The text confirming the order or purchase is saved. Once the order has been received, the user will receive an email confirming the order and outlining the user’s order details. The user can print out the order confirmation using the “print” function. The contract is deemed concluded as soon as the user receives the order confirmation or declaration of acceptance, or when access to the paid content is activated via the email address they specified when registering on the platform.
The contract may be concluded in either English, German or Portuguese.
Access to the paid content is usually made available to the user within a short conversion time after payment (usually within a few hours).
By purchasing paid content, the user shall gain the right to access the agreed paid content within the agreed period and within the scope of the contract. The user receives simple, i.e. non-sublicensable and non-transferable, rights that are time-limited to the agreed duration, to use the paid content by accessing it via a browser in accordance with the contractual provisions. The user may only use the paid content themselves within the scope of their own business activities. Any further use of the paid content is not permitted. The content cannot be downloaded. Any recording or copying of the content is prohibited.
Unless otherwise agreed upon, contracts for Premium Accounts are concluded on an annual basis, beginning on the exact date of the contract and continuing until terminated by either party.
Ordinary termination is possible up to one day before the end of the contract year. The statutory right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected.
The termination must be made in writing or in text form. Termination via the customer portal is permitted if this option is provided (in which case the termination will be effective upon receipt of an automatically generated confirmation email from us).
The annual fee is due in advance at the beginning of each contract year.
Accepted payment methods are credit card (Visa or Mastercard) and PayPal.
If the user is in default of payment, Solar Promotion reserves the right to block the Premium Account and any associated access options. If the legal requirements are met, the right to extraordinary termination remains reserved.
Users are only entitled to offset against claims from Solar Promotion if (i) their counter-claims have been legally established or are undisputed, and/or (ii) they are asserting warranty claims from the same contract. Users may only exercise a right of retention if their counter-claim arises from the same contract.
The functionalities of the The smarter E Login are continuously developed. Solar Promotion reserves the right to make improvements or changes to the functionality or Terms of Use of the The smarter E Login area at any time without notice. Solar Promotion also reserves the right to discontinue the The smarter E Login service at any time, in which case the user profile of the The smarter E Login will be deleted.
With the exception of system and program maintenance periods, the The smarter E login and access to paid content the user has purchased are generally available 24/7.During such times, there may be limitations to usability, which will be kept to the possible minimum. Users do not have a claim to using the The smarter E Login. Despite regular and careful backups, the possibility of data loss cannot be entirely excluded.
In the event of intent, fraudulently concealed defects or gross negligence on the part of Solar Promotion, liability applies in accordance with the provisions of the law; the same applies in the event of culpable breach of essential contractual duties. Where there is no intentional or grossly negligent breach of contract, Solar Promotion’s liability for compensation remaining under the provisions of the law is limited to foreseeable, typically occurring damage. The liability for damages irrespective of fault (Section 536a BGB) for defects present at the time of conclusion of contract is excluded. Solar Promotion's statutory liability under product liability laws, for warranties and culpable injury to life, limb and health, remain unaffected at all times. Solar Promotion's liability is excluded unless specifically stated otherwise in the foregoing.
If a company of the Solar Promotion Group is given the email address of the User in connection with the conclusion of contracts (e.g. conclusion of user contracts, sale of goods, booking of services), the respective company of the Solar Promotion Group may use the email address to inform the User by email about similar goods or services from the Solar Promotion range, as long as the User does not object to this use and the User is clearly informed upon collection of the email address and upon each use that he/she may object to the use at any time without incurring transmission costs other than those according to the basic rates.
As part of The smarter E Login service, the User therefore receives, at Solar Promotion's choice, various newsletters and notifications offered by the Solar Promotion group on different topics and in different languages, which may contain editorial content as well as advertising, e.g. for upcoming Solar Promotion events or services offered. Notifications may be, at Solar Promotion's choice, either sent to the email address provided by the User or displayed within the login area.
The User also receives those newsletters and notifications for which he/she has actively registered.
It is possible to unsubscribe from newsletters or deactivate notifications at any time.
Users may unsubscribe from the newsletter by clicking on the "Unsubscribe" link at the end of each email, or by sending an email to unsubscribe@thesmartere.com. The above email address may also be used for a general objection to email advertising.
Users are not entitled to object to the use of their email address for communication required within the scope of The smarter E Login. Required communication within this meaning are, for example, notifications concerning resetting personal passwords or notifications of changes to the Terms of Use or the privacy policy.
Solar Promotion analyses the information provided by the User in connection with his/her user account and respective User profile, as well as User behavior, in order to display relevant website content tailored to the interests and needs of the User and notifications relevant to this within the login area.
Solar Promotion only uses a User’s personal data if, and to the extent that, is required and permitted within the scope of these Terms of Use. Users’ personal data are collected and processed taking into account applicable data protection laws. For further information about the use of personal data, please go to https://www.thesmartere.de/privacy-policy .
The smarter E Industry Days are a virtual b2b event organized by Solar Promotion. The main aims of the event are to promote knowledge transfer, bring suppliers and visitors together and provide networking opportunities and platforms for discussion.
XI.1 Organizer
Solar Promotion GmbH is the organizer of The smarter E Industry Days and its accompanying program and therefore the contracting party to the agreement entered into by the participant. The smarter E Industry Days also feature a large number of events offers which are organized and funded independently by external suppliers. Registration for these events is possible via Solar Promotion. Solar Promotion has no input into the content or registration requirements for these events. Provided that it is not at fault and that it is not legally responsible, Solar Promotion’s liability in this regard shall be excluded.
XI.2 Scope of application
These general terms and conditions of participation apply to all users (hereinafter referred to as “participants”) who register for and/or attend The smarter E Industry Days, elements of events for which Solar Promotion is responsible, or any other events or other services offered as part of The smarter E Industry Days via the websites operated by Solar Promotion GmbH. Participants will be made aware of and are required to accept the respective terms and conditions when they register for and/or attend the aforementioned events by clicking on the corresponding button, following which these terms and conditions will immediately become effective.
External suppliers may supplement these general terms and conditions of participation with additional terms and conditions for their event and/or devise deviating terms and conditions; the applicable terms and conditions will be communicated as part of the registration process.
XI.3 Registration, conclusion of contract
To participate in The smarter E Industry Days, participants must register in advance. Consumers within the meaning of Section 13 of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) are not permitted to participate. Participation is reserved for persons acting in exercise of their trade, business or profession (Section 14 BGB) or as a representative of a public institution. Registration is completed using the central The smarter E Login system, which requires participants to register for a The smarter E-account. The Terms of Use for the websites operated by the Solar Promotion Group and the user account service for The smarter E Login apply in this case, while the required information to be provided by participants, listed in section IV., is supplemented by the following components, which subsequently do not need to be processed:
• Position/job title of the participant within the company or the institution;
• Company or institution represented by the participant;
• Country in which the company or institution is headquartered.
Depending on the participant’s selection, the contractual language of the registration is either German or English. Solar Promotion reserves the right to add other contractual languages. Before the booking can be submitted by clicking on the registration button, participants have the opportunity to cancel or amend their booking, if necessary by closing the browser window. After submitting their booking, participants will receive an automatic confirmation message. The contract for participation in The smarter E Industry Days is concluded when users receive an explicit booking confirmation or, when individual events are booked, when they receive their booking confirmation from the supplier in question. Order details and the applicable contract wording are stored by Solar Promotion and sent to the participant together with the booking confirmation. In individual cases, the external supplier may need to organize their own separate registration process for their event (this will be explicitly communicated to them).
XI.4 Services, costs
The smarter E Industry Days include the following services:
Unless otherwise indicated, The smarter E Industry Days, its accompanying program and any other events are free of charge to attend.
XI.5 Cancellation, withdrawal
Both the organizer and the external suppliers reserve the right to postpone, cancel or amend the content of The smarter E Industry Days, its individual events or any other elements of the program, even at short notice (in the event that events are not free of charge for participants only if there are material grounds for doing so). In such cases, participants have no right to assert claims (e.g. to compensation or a replacement event) other than a refund of participation fees paid. Material grounds include, but are not limited to:
XI.6 Right to deny virtual access
Solar Promotion as well as operators of the technical infrastructure with the necessary authorization or permissions have the authority to issue instructions to participants with respect to the entire virtual event environment of The smarter E Industry Days. Participants who act illegally, contravene these general terms and conditions of participation, or endanger any other participant or the running of the event, may be temporarily or permanently removed or blocked from The smarter E Industry Days or the digital event platforms. If the fault lies with the participant, said participant will not be entitled to a refund of any participation fees or any other damages.
XI.7 Data protection
Information on the use of participant data can be found in the privacy policy of Solar Promotion available at https://www.thesmartere.de/privacy-policy ; the rights of data subjects contained in this privacy policy apply accordingly. In addition to the title, name and email address of the participant, Solar Promotion also processes information provided by the participant with regard to position/job title, company/institution and country within the scope of planning and running the event, for example for the purposes of sending registration and order confirmations, certificates of participation and login data, for assigning orders to the participant’s company or institution, for carrying out access/participation checks, for fulfilling documentation requirements, for sending program information and for communicating results and follow-up activities (e.g. details about supplementary information or discussions). The legal basis for processing data which the participant is required to enter into the required fields is Article 6 Para. 1(b) and (f) GDPR. Solar Promotion may also – for the aforementioned purposes – transfer data provided by the participant to external suppliers if the participant has registered for events offered by said external suppliers. The legal basis for this data transfer is Article 6 Para. 1(b) and (f) GDPR.
The Solar Promotion Group reserves the right to change the Terms of Use for its websites at any time. If Solar Promotion wishes to changes the Terms of Use for the The smarter E Login account service, Solar Promotion will inform the User either through a message displayed at the next login, or by email. If a User does not object within 4 weeks, the changed Terms of Use will become applicable to that User, provided that Solar Promotion has informed the User of the effects of a lack of objection and the period of objection together with the information about the changed Terms of Use.
German law applies, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and all dispositive conflict-of-law provisions of private international law. If the User is an entrepreneur and was ordinarily resident in a country other than Germany at the time of registration, the application of that country's mandatory rules on consumer protection remain unaffected by the above choice of law. If the User is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a separate estate governed by public law, the courts in Pforzheim have exclusive jurisdiction for all disputes arising out of, or in connection with, the relevant contractual relationship.
The online dispute resolution platform ("ODR platform") can be accessed via the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr . This platform is a point of contact for consumers seeking out-of-court resolution of disputes arising out of concluded contracts. Solar Promotion and its associated companies have not agreed to participate in a dispute settlement procedure under Section 36 of the German Law on the Resolution of Consumer Disputes.
If individual provisions of these Terms of Use prove to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part or become invalid or unenforceable as a result of changes in legislation after conclusion of the contract, the remaining Terms of Use and the validity of the concluded contract of use shall remain unaffected.
Version of the Terms of Use: March 18, 2024