We at Stellar Energy GP, Inc. respect the privacy of our customers and end users of the products we sell. This privacy statement and our Privacy Notice are designed to help you understand what information we gather and what we do with that information. Because our website will continue to implement new technologies and improve the services and features we provide, this policy is subject to change from time to time. For that reason, we encourage you to review the Privacy Notice periodically. By using our website, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Notice in effect at that time.
Our Privacy Principles:
We do not sell customer or end user data or information.
We do not allow those who are doing business on our behalf to use our customer information for their own marketing purposes without consent.
We contractually require any person or organization providing products or services on our behalf to protect Stellar customer information.
STELLAR ENERGY GP, INC. PRIVACY NOTICE
Last updated August 2020
Thank you for visiting Stellar Energy GP, Inc. (“Stellar”). We want you to know that your privacy is important to us. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to ensure your experience with Stellar is one that you will want to repeat and share with others. Part of our commitment to you is to respect and protect the privacy of the personal information you provide to us. The information below is designed to inform you of what information we collect, why we collect such information, and how we use the information we collect. This Privacy Notice is incorporated into our website Terms of Use as well as our standard Home Improvement Contracts for all residential installation projects we enter into.
What Does This Privacy Notice Cover?
First, we want to tell you about who we are. Stellar is a wholly owned subsidiary of Soligent Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation and it is affiliated with sister companies, including Soligent Distribution, LLC and Solar Engine, LLC (collectively, these affiliates are referred to as “Soligent”). This Privacy Notice provides information regarding the processing of your personal data when using services and/or purchasing products or services from Stellar, whether as:
a customer (i.e. a residential or commercial property owner, project manager, developer, general contractor, subcontractor, product manufacturer or maintenance service provider, third party logistics provider, or virtual power plant participant) or representatives of these entities;
a visitor to the www.stellarenergy.com website (the “Stellar website”);
an attendee at trade shows and Stellar-hosted webinars on Zoom or other platforms;
a user of Stellar online customer accounts, learning or test pages;
an applicant seeking employment or
as a participant in a promotion offered by Stellar, either alone or with third party/ies (“Promotion”).
If you choose to sign up for Stellar’s mailing list, create a Stellar user account in the Stellar portal or on the Stellar website, for whatever purpose, a profile will be created for you to use and navigate across these Stellar services and/or offers.
Additional notices and privacy statements may contain further information about how Stellar is processing your personal data. This would be the case, for example, if you are a customer representative or end user of PV solar system or battery storage equipment. In those instances, such privacy notices may be communicated to you separately.
If you would like to receive this Privacy Notice in an alternative format (for example in larger print) please email privacy@stellarenergy.com or call us at 415-409-9024.
This Privacy Notice explains what personal data is or may be processed about you; why we are processing your personal data and for which purposes; for how long we hold your personal data for; how to access and update your personal data, as well as the options you have regarding your personal data and where to go for further information.
Stellar does not sell your personal information.
When you submit your personal information to us, you are giving us your consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as set forth in this Privacy Notice. We are always available to discuss your questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Notice and our privacy practices. If you would like to speak to a customer service representative, please contact us via telephone at 415-409-9024 or email at privacy@stellarenergy.com.
For the avoidance of doubt, these provisions apply to all consumers whose personal information is processed by Stellar in the United States of America regardless of the State you are resident in. These rights are without prejudice to any additional rights you may have in line with local law.
International Transfers. Information collected on this website may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Stellar or its Service Providers or agents maintain facilities. By using this website, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Stellar abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of data from the European Union. By using the website and providing personal information to us, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Be advised that personal information may be made available, without your knowledge, to the United States government or its agencies, or those of governments in any other country where we or our service providers store or process personal information, under a lawful order made in that country.
Collection and Use of Information
General. In general, you can browse our website without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself. At various times, you may decide to provide us with your personal information. You should know that we receive and may store all personal information (whether written or oral) that you provide to us through whatever means you provide such information (through our website, customer portal, via e-mail, over the telephone, completed applications, etc.). Personal information means any information that may be used to identify an individual, including, but not limited to, a first and last name, home, billing or other physical address or email address as well as any information associated with the foregoing. In addition to your contact information, we may collect information about your purchases, billing address, shipping address, gender, occupation, birthday, marital status, anniversary, interests, phone number or other contact information, and credit card information. We may combine the information you provide to us over time and we may combine such information with information that is publicly available, collected through data collection devices, and information that we receive from our partners, affiliates and other third parties.
We collect information, including personal data about you, as a Stellar customer or customer representative, user of Stellar-purchased PV Solar or battery storage equipment or services for sales and warranty purposes, and/or visitor to a Stellar website or Stellar-administered social media page such as Linked-In or Facebook (“Stellar Social Media”). This information may be either:
Information that you provide to us – when creating a Stellar account profile, we will ask for your name, e-mail address and gender (so that we can address you properly but you do not have to provide us with this information), your contact preferences and information necessary for answering any security questions. If you are an installer owner or representative and/or decide to open an account with Stellar, or participate in our online offerings, you will be asked to provide further personal data necessary for the performance of such services and/or authentication such as your name, address, business name, phone number, mobile number, email address, communication preferences and similar information. If you choose to enter a Stellar promotion, we will gather information necessary to allow you to participate and to award you with any provided benefit if confirmed, and to provide you marketing offers if you have agreed to receive these as part of your participation in a promotion.
Information that we obtain through your use of Stellar services – we will also collect information about how and where you use or purchase Stellar services and products. Such information may include electronic device information, IP addresses, log information, browser type and preferences, location information, online identifiers to enable ‘cookies’ and similar technologies.
Information gathered through social media pages – When you communicate with us through a Stellar Social Media (for example, when you comment on, share or react to a post , upload media, send a personal message or subscribe to a Stellar Social Media page), we may receive personal data about you such as your user name, profile picture, hometown, email address and gender. We will use any personal data received from social media in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
Use of Your Personal Information
We may use the information we collect about you to:
facilitate your purchases and provide the services you request;
manage relationships and for marketing such as maintaining contact with you;
improve our website, service and product offerings, marketing and promotional efforts, and overall customer service;
respond to your inquiries and requests;
performance of and analysis of market surveys and marketing strategies to understand our customer demographics, preferences, interests, and behavior;
promotions offered to Stellar customers;
To set up accounts for purchasing and to connect you with our project financing partners if requested;
(for property owner customers) to register products, assist with warranty and maintenance requests or claims if requested, agreed to and applicable;
enable you to participate in webinars and other online learning activities;
confirm and track your orders;
compare and review your personal information for errors, omissions and accuracy;
account management including account verification (that is, ensuring that only you or someone you have authorized can access your account and information);
prevent and detect fraud or abuse, and
contact you (via email, postal mail, or telephone) regarding products and services (of Stellar or our partners) that we believe may be of interest to you.
or for a secondary purpose where it is closely related, such as:
storing, deleting, or anonymizing your personal data;
audits, investigations, dispute resolution or warranty purposes, litigation, or defense of claims;
statistical, historical, or scientific research; or
legal and/or regulatory compliance.
Personal Information That We May Share with Others
In certain circumstances, we may share your personal information with trusted partners. Your personal data are exclusively processed for the purposes referred to above and will only be shared on a strict need to know basis and for a relevant business purpose with:
Service Providers: We use trusted third-party service providers to perform certain services on our behalf, including: installation site mapping, solar and storage system design, shipping, payment processing, sales tax processing, data storage/management, web hosting, web analytics, fulfillment, assembly, marketing, mailing, emailing, etc. These service providers only receive personal information if such information is needed to perform their function(s), and they are not authorized to use any personal information for any other purpose(s) other than the purpose(s) set forth by Stellar unless you agree otherwise.
Special Events: If you are a dealer or customer representative and choose to participate in a special event (for example, a promotion, or contest), Stellar may share personal information (i.e. contact information) you provide with those organizations participating in the applicable event. Unless we tell you otherwise in connection with a special event, these third parties do not use your information for any other purpose other than to manage the event.
Partners: Stellar may provide information to carefully selected partners. In such cases, we might share and/or cross-reference information, including personal information about you that will enable such persons or entities to contact you regarding products and services that may be of interest to you and the customer you represent, such as financing services for your solar and/or storage system installation.
Compliance with Law and Fraud Protection: We may, and you authorize us to use and disclose any information, including personal information: (1) we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; (2) in order to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any personal or as otherwise required by law; (3) to other companies and organizations for credit fraud protection and risk reduction; and (4) to enforce any agreement we have with you.
Business Transfer: Your personal information may be disclosed as part of any merger, sale of company assets or acquisition, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership, in which personal information would be transferred as one of the business assets of the Company.
Affiliates and contracted partners of Stellar: We may share your information with our affiliates and subsidiaries for business and operational purposes.
Suppliers of Products Purchased: We may supply information to the makers or sellers of products that you purchase from us or our affiliates for warranty and maintenance service purposes.
Other Uses of Your Information
Anonymous Information. We may create anonymous records from personal information by excluding information (such as your name and other identifying information) that makes the information personally identifiable to you. We may use these records for internal purposes, such as marketing analysis, sales tracking, and analysis of usage patterns so that we may enhance our services. We also reserve the right to use and disclose any information in such records at our discretion.
Comments. We value your feedback which helps us improve our website, products, and services. By making such submissions to us, you authorize us to use such comments and content as described in the “Submissions” section of our Terms of Use page.
IP Address. When you visit our website, Stellar collects your IP address to, among other things, help diagnose problems with its server, administer and tune the operation of its website, analyze trends, track traffic patterns, gather demographic information for aggregate use, and track the date and duration of each session within our website. Your IP address may also be used in combination with your personal information to prevent fraud or abuse, customize your experience on our website, improve our website, customer service, products, and promotional efforts, and to understand your preferences, patterns and interests.
Data Collection Devices, such as Cookies and Web Beacons. In some instances, Stellar may collect data through cookies, web logs, web beacons (also known as pixel gifs or action tags) and other monitoring technologies to enhance your browsing and shopping experience on our website. “Cookies” are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive to collect information about your activities on our website. Web beacons are small strings of code placed on a web page or within an email for the purpose of transferring information.
We use cookies and web beacons to deliver our ads, improve and measure the usability, track visits from our affiliates and partners, performance and effectiveness of our website, improve and measure the effectiveness of our marketing programs, learn how customers use our website, estimate our audience size, deliver co-branded services, and to customize your browsing experience. Examples of the type of information that we collect through these collection devices includes: total visitors to the website, pages viewed, unique visitors, time spent on our website and on certain web pages, etc.
We may authorize third parties to use cookies, web beacons and other monitoring technologies to compile information about the use of the website or interaction with advertisements that appear on the website.
You are always free to decline cookies if your browser permits; although, by declining the use of cookies you may not be able to use certain features on the website.
Children under 16
Stellar does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16. If we learn that we have collected personally identifiable information from a child under the age of 16, we will delete that data from our systems. Please visit the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov for tips on protecting children’s privacy online.
Links
Our website may provide links to other third-party websites – such as the manufacturers or suppliers of products we sell and install – which are outside our control and not covered by this privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and notices posted on these (and all) websites.
Interacting with Stellar through social media
If you choose to interact with Stellar through social media on a Stellar Social Media page, such as on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, your personal data (such as your name, your profile picture and the fact that you are interested in Stellar) will be visible to all visitors of your personal webpage depending on your privacy settings on the relevant social media platform, and will also be visible to Stellar. You can delete any information that you share on these sites at any time through your relevant social media platform account. Stellar does not track your activity across the different social media sites that you use. If you send a message to Stellar via any messenger service on a social media platform, these messages are held for no longer than one month after receipt. Please contact Stellar if you wish to make a request that you are unable to action yourself and which relates to a Stellar Social Media page – see the section below.”
Additionally and to the extent Stellar is jointly responsible with a social media platform of a Stellar Social Media page, Stellar will have access through the social media platform to aggregated data providing statistics and insights that help to understand the types of actions you take on Stellar Social Media pages. For more information on how your personal data are processed on those social media platforms, including any targeted advertising that you may receive, please refer to your privacy settings accessible through your relevant social media platform’s account.
Security
Stellar is committed to the protection of the personally identifiable information that you share with us. We utilize a combination of physical and electronic security technologies, procedures, and organizational measures to help protect your personally identifiable information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When we transfer sensitive personal information (for example, credit information) over the Internet, we protect it using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology. While we strive to safeguard your personal information once we receive it, no transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure and, accordingly, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you disclose or transmit to us.
How Long We Hold Your Personal Data
Personal data processed by Stellar in line with this Privacy Notice will be deleted or rendered anonymous (such that it will no longer be possible to identify you):
every 5 years where you remain a customer during this period:
without undue delay upon you requesting that your Stellar account profile is deleted, or you discontinue your participation in the Stellar User Portal;
or after 3 years for all subscribed services from our last interaction with you (that is where you have not used our services for 3 years).
In relation to any financial transactions directly entered into with Stellar, your personal data may be held up to 10 years from the date of the transaction.
In all cases information may be held for (a) a longer period of time where there is a legal or regulatory reason to do so (in which case it will be deleted once no longer required for the legal or regulatory purpose) or (b) a shorter period where the individual objects to the processing of their personal data and there is no longer a legitimate business purpose to retain it.
Accessing and Updating Your Information
If the personally identifiable information Stellar has gathered from you changes or you would like to access, correct, or delete such information, we will gladly provide you access to correct or delete (to the extent allowed by law) any personal information we have collected about you. To request access to a correction to or deletion of your personal information, please send an e-mail to privacy@stellarenergy.com or contact one of our representatives at 800-967-6917.
Communication and Marketing – Your Choices
We may send you service updates and notifications without your advance consent only where such updates and/or notifications are necessary for the proper functioning of systems or components you purchase if applicable, or other services that you use with us, as they may be updated from time to time.
You may also receive pertinent offers and communications through interaction with our website
Send this Page to a Friend and Refer a Friend. Using a Stellar form, you can refer a friend to the Stellar website or send them product information. You and your friend’s names and e-mail addresses are requested to ensure that your friend will know that you have requested that Stellar send them an e-mail. The information we collect about you and your friend will be used in ways described in this privacy policy.
Opt-Out
We want to communicate with you only if you want to continue to hear from us. To opt out of receiving email promotions that we send you: (1) email us at privacy@stellarenergy.com ; (2) select “unsubscribe” on our subscription status page and enter the requested information or follow the unsubscribe instructions in any of our promotional emails; or (3) write to Stellar Customer Support at 1400 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite 201, Petaluma, CA 94954 (a “postal request”).
Opting out of communication with us does not affect our communications with you via telephone or email related to your orders with us. It also does not affect our use of your non-personally identifiable information.
Your California Privacy Rights *FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ONLY*
This Privacy Notice for California Residents supplements the information contained in our Privacy Notice above and applies solely to all visitors, users, and others who reside in the State of California (“consumers” or “you”). We adopt this notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in the notice.
We do not sell your personal information.
We do not and will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights explained in this Privacy Notice regardless of whether the California Consumer Privacy Act applies to you including:
denying you access to goods and/or services;
charging you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties;
providing you a different level of goods and/or services; or
suggesting you may receive a different price or rate for goods and/or services or a different level of quality of goods and/or services.
If you are a California resident and would like a copy of our notice describing what categories of personal information we share with third parties or corporate affiliates for their direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of the third parties and affiliates that received your information in the past year, please submit a written request to the following address: Stellar Energy GP, Inc. Customer Service at 1400 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite 201, Petaluma, CA 94954 ATTN: California Privacy. Please allow up to 30 days for us to process your request. You may submit such a request once per year.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
Stellar will occasionally update this Privacy Notice. We encourage you to check the date of our Privacy Notice each time you visit our website for any updates or changes. Your use of our website constitutes your consent to this Privacy Notice, including any changes or updates. We may make additional features, functionality, offers, activities, or events (“opportunities”) available to you subject to additional or different privacy rules that we disclose in connection with those opportunities.