energyplains
Privacy Policy
This notice explains how Energyplains handles personal information when you use our website, explore energy project data, request a site assessment, contact us or take part in an introduction to an energy project partner. It covers information you provide and relevant information obtained from other sources.
Who is responsible for your information
Charles Fowler trading as Energyplains is the controller of personal information used for the purposes described in this notice. This means that we decide why and how that information is used.
For privacy enquiries, requests about your information or a data protection complaint, email info@energyplains.co.uk. Please use a subject such as “Privacy request” or “Privacy complaint” so we can identify it promptly.
Services covered by this notice
Our website is available at energyplains.co.uk and www.energyplains.co.uk. The public project explorer at /data/ lets you view, filter and download renewable energy project information. Site Intelligence supports initial screening of land and business premises for solar, battery storage and related energy opportunities.
Public browsing of the project explorer does not require an assessment account. Site Intelligence has a separate verification and submission process. A private assessment is not published in the public project explorer.
This notice applies to information about identifiable people, including business contacts, sole traders and occupiers. It also applies to property information where it can be linked to an individual.
Information you give us
Contact and enquiry information: your name, email address, optional telephone number, business or role details where supplied, and the content of your correspondence.
Assessment information: your relationship to the property, address or postcode, the location and boundary you select or draw, the route you request, and confirmations about the accuracy of your information and your acknowledgement of the privacy notice.
Commercial energy information: site type, interest in solar or battery storage, annual electricity consumption and expenditure, tariff contract end date, and answers about the largest share and typical timing of electricity demand where requested. These questions concern electricity use.
Account and workflow information: your email verification, account identifier, sign-in and submission timestamps, assessment references, correspondence about a case, and any instructions you give about an introduction.
Please provide only information relevant to your enquiry or assessment. Do not include passwords, identity documents, health information or other sensitive personal information in free text unless we specifically explain why it is needed and how it will be protected. If you provide another person’s details, make sure you are authorised to do so and give them access to this notice.
Information from your device and other sources
When you visit our services, hosting and service providers receive technical information needed to handle requests, such as an IP address, browser information, the requested resource, time and error or security information. Site Intelligence can create a technical anonymous sign-in session before email verification. “Anonymous” here describes the sign-in method; it does not mean that all technical information is impossible to link to an individual.
With your analytics choice enabled, Google Analytics receives online identifiers and information about your visit, such as pages viewed, referral information, device and browser characteristics, approximate location and measured interactions. We use reports to understand use of the website and public project explorer. The current Site Intelligence assessment journey is outside our GA4 integration. We do not treat analytics identifiers as necessarily anonymous.
For screening, we use relevant public or licensed sources. These can include HM Land Registry parcel data, Ordnance Survey mapping and property identifiers, energy performance certificate and display energy certificate records, government renewable energy project data, and planning, heritage or environmental evidence. Solar estimates can use the European Commission Joint Research Centre’s PVGIS service. Source availability and coverage vary by site and route.
The evidence can include property addresses and identifiers, parcel boundaries, certificate ratings and dates, recorded constraints and estimated solar resource. We link relevant evidence and its source to the assessment. If that evidence identifies you or your property in a personal context, this notice applies to it. A public source does not remove your data protection rights.
Viewing an Ordnance Survey map makes requests from your browser to its mapping service. The provider can receive your IP address, browser request details and map areas requested. Other evidence checks may send a postcode, location or technical query to the relevant source through our backend. These checks do not require sending your contact details or electricity questionnaire to the solar resource provider.
Why we use information and our lawful bases
The following table identifies the lawful basis for each purpose. For legitimate interests, it also identifies the interest pursued. We assess whether that use is necessary and balance it against the effects on your rights and reasonable expectations.
| Purpose and information used | Lawful basis and relevant interest |
| Respond to enquiries and manage business correspondence using your contact details and messages. | Legitimate interests: handling enquiries and maintaining relevant business relationships. If you ask for steps towards a contract with you personally, those necessary steps use the contract basis. |
| Verify access and provide an assessment using account details, your submission and relevant source evidence. | Contract, where necessary to provide a service agreed with you as an individual or sole trader, or take steps you request before that contract. For a company representative or other person not party to that contract, legitimate interests in delivering the requested service and protecting access. |
| Generate, check and explain screening results, keep evidence provenance and resolve inaccurate or failed assessments. | The service basis above for the requested assessment. For associated quality checks, legitimate interests in reliable assessments, traceable evidence and resolving errors; use identifiable information only where necessary. |
| Arrange a partner introduction you request, including relevant technical summaries and authorised contact sharing. | Contract for an introduction service agreed with you personally; otherwise legitimate interests in arranging the business introduction you request. Acknowledging this notice is not blanket consent to unrelated sharing. |
| Understand use of the website and /data/ through optional Google Analytics and analytics reporting. | Consent for this optional analytics use. You can reject or withdraw your analytics choice without losing access to public data. |
| Prevent misuse, investigate incidents and manage necessary access and security logs. | Legitimate interests in protecting users, cases and the service. Legal obligation where a specific security, disclosure or other requirement applies. |
| Handle privacy requests and complaints, comply with applicable recordkeeping duties and manage legal disputes. | Legal obligation for duties that apply to us. Legitimate interests in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims where appropriate. |
Acknowledging this notice is not consent for every purpose. Changing your analytics choice does not delete an account or withdraw a service request. Before a new use begins, we will assess its basis and provide any required information or choice.
Who receives your information
We limit access to the information needed for the relevant purpose. Service providers process information to deliver the functions described below. Some also have their own responsibilities for matters such as account administration, billing, security or legal compliance. Selected project partners may act as separate controllers for their own proposals and project development.
| Recipient | Purpose and information involved |
| Energyplains and authorised reviewers | Manage enquiries and private cases, verify evidence and respond to you. Reviewer permissions are assigned by Energyplains. Review packets omit direct customer contact details where those details are not needed. |
| Krystal and website hosting services | Host the WordPress website and public project explorer. Handle browser requests and operational or security logs. This does not give public website visitors access to private assessment records. |
| Supabase | Provides Site Intelligence authentication, database and backend services. Processes account and email-verification information, private submissions, assessment evidence and necessary service logs. |
| Email and communications providers | Deliver sign-in verification and requested service messages, and handle enquiries and correspondence. Sign-in delivery and ordinary email may use different providers. |
| Google Analytics and Windsor.ai | Google receives consent-based website and public-explorer analytics. Windsor.ai supports reporting from the connected analytics account. These reporting functions do not require access to private assessment contact details, boundaries or questionnaire answers. |
| Mapping and evidence providers | Ordnance Survey supplies browser maps. HM Land Registry, certificate registers, public authorities and other relevant sources supply property and screening evidence. The Joint Research Centre provides PVGIS solar-resource estimates. Providers receive the location or technical request information needed for their service, rather than the complete private case. |
| Selected energy project partners | Receive a recipient-specific preview, or an introduction that you have requested and authorised, as described below. A partner receives the information relevant to that stage, rather than unrestricted database access. |
| Professional advisers and public authorities | Receive relevant information where needed for professional advice, legal claims, regulatory duties or a lawful request. Disclosure is limited to the particular purpose and applicable legal basis. |
A selected partner may receive a limited preview containing a broad area, site type, energy-demand bands and a technical summary. A preview withholds your name, direct contact details and exact site. This reduces identification risk but does not guarantee anonymity. Access is restricted to the selected recipient and the preview is time-limited; it does not give the partner access to all cases or the underlying database.
If you ask us to arrange an introduction, we explain the proposed partner and the information to be shared before releasing your contact details or exact site. Your authorisation is separate from the partner accepting an introduction or fee terms. Energyplains may receive a fee for an accepted qualified introduction; payment does not authorise unrestricted access to your information. A partner that decides how to use your information for its own proposal or project is a separate controller and should provide its own privacy information. The current preview workflow does not itself release your contact details or exact site, including after a partner accepts a preview.
Marketing and service messages
Email verification, assessment updates and replies to your enquiry are service messages. Entering a tariff contract end date, requesting an assessment or acknowledging this notice is not permission for unrelated marketing or blanket sharing with partners. Any optional Energyplains marketing choice will be separate, with a way to withdraw or opt out. We do not currently operate automated tariff-renewal marketing from the assessment questionnaire.
International processing
Our Supabase project database is hosted in Ireland. A database region does not determine every place where a provider processes information: service administration, support and subprocessors can involve other countries. Supabase describes relevant international processing, including Singapore and the United States, in its data-residency and transfers information. Other providers, including Google, can also process information internationally.
For a restricted international transfer, the applicable arrangement must provide a lawful transfer mechanism. Depending on the destination and recipient, this may be UK adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the European Commission standard contractual clauses, together with any required transfer assessment. A US adequacy arrangement applies only where the recipient and transfer qualify. Ireland is within the European Economic Area, which is covered by UK adequacy regulations.
You can contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your data, including how to obtain a copy. We may redact confidential commercial information or information about other people.
How long we keep information
We use the periods and review points below to determine how long identifiable information is needed. The clock starts from the event specified for each record. We keep only the information needed for the relevant purpose; a longer period for a core contract or complaint record does not automatically apply to the whole assessment pack.
| Record | Retention period or review criteria |
| Unsubmitted browser draft | Valid for one hour from saving. The application removes an expired draft when it next checks storage, and clears it on successful submission or the relevant reset action. An unopened browser is not automatically erased at the end of the hour. |
| General enquiries and correspondence | Normally 12 months after the last substantive contact. Correspondence needed for an ongoing assessment, introduction, contract or justified claim follows the relevant period below. |
| Active assessments | While the assessment and related service remain active and the information is needed. Older open cases are reviewed to establish whether work is continuing, the case should be closed or relevant information can be removed. |
| Closed assessments and supporting evidence | Normally 24 months after confirmed case closure, provided there is no continuing introduction, contract need, legal hold or other justified purpose requiring relevant records. This includes linked submissions, assessment versions and supporting case evidence. |
| Unused anonymous or unverified accounts | Reviewed after 30 inactive days. They are removed only where there is no linked case, continuing access role, valid invitation, owned file or other protected purpose. These rules do not automatically remove verified customer accounts. |
| Verified accounts | While needed to provide account access or a continuing service. We review the continuing need when associated work ends or you request account closure. Expiry of a case does not itself automatically delete a verified account. |
| Routine application and site-lookup logs | Normally 30 days from the event. Relevant records may be retained longer for a specific security investigation, incident or claim. Infrastructure logs held by hosting and other providers follow their relevant operational retention windows and any justified incident requirements. |
| Core introduction and contract records | Up to six years after the relevant introduction closes or contract ends, where justified by the transaction, applicable duties or legal claims. Only the necessary core record and evidence are kept for this purpose; this is not a six-year period for every assessment document. |
| Privacy complaints and rights requests | A minimal handling record and essential evidence are normally kept for three years after resolution. A live claim or other documented legal need may justify keeping relevant material longer. |
| GA4 event-level analytics | Up to 14 months under the selected event-data retention setting. The user-data retention clock is not reset merely because the same user returns. Standard aggregated reports have separate retention behaviour; cookie lifetimes and any reporting exports are separate from this setting. |
| Analytics choices and reporting copies | Browser choices are stored for the period described in the Cookie Policy or until changed or removed. Any identifiable report or export is retained only while needed for its stated reporting purpose or a specific complaint; exporting data does not remove the need to review and delete it. |
Where information is no longer needed, it is deleted or made genuinely anonymous. A documented legal claim, continuing introduction, privacy request or other justified need can suspend deletion of relevant records. Such exceptions must be reviewed. Copies in backups can remain restricted until they are overwritten or expire under the relevant backup cycle; they are not used for ordinary business purposes. If a backup is restored, relevant deletions and erasure requests must be reapplied before the restored information returns to ordinary use.
How assessment results are produced
Site Intelligence uses rules and calculations to combine your answers, site location and available evidence into indicators and opportunity statements. For example, electricity use and timing help indicate how solar generation or battery storage could fit the site, while source evidence informs the relevant panel. Missing or uncertain evidence can limit the result.
Results are initial screening, not guarantees of yield, savings, finance, grid connection, planning permission or a partner offer. They may be available before human review. Screening does not itself approve a contract or make a binding credit or planning decision.
You can ask us to correct inaccurate personal information, explain an assessment or arrange a human review of a concern. Before introducing a materially different automated decision process, we will assess its implications and provide the information and safeguards required by law.
Security and information you need to provide
We use account verification, role-based access restrictions and technical controls to help protect private cases. Avoid sharing sign-in links. On shared devices, take care because drafts and sessions can remain in browser storage.
Public project browsing does not require assessment contact details. Private assessments need a verified email and required contact, site and route-specific fields. Without them, we may be unable to verify access, create a case or assess the opportunity. Your telephone number is optional. These are service requirements, not a general legal obligation to provide information.
The service is intended for adults dealing with property or business energy. Contact us if you believe a child has submitted personal information.
Cookies and similar technology
We use cookies and browser storage for functions such as account verification, sessions, your analytics choice and temporary assessment drafts. Optional Google Analytics is governed by your analytics choice. You can use the website cookie controls or the Analytics preferences link in the public project explorer to change that choice. Rejecting analytics does not prevent public project browsing or a site assessment. The Cookie Policy explains the storage used, purposes, durations and controls.
Cookie Policy: https://www.energyplains.co.uk/cookie-policy-uk/
Necessary processing for a requested service uses the lawful bases described above and is separate from optional analytics consent. Provider map requests and essential sign-in storage can still occur when analytics is rejected.
Your rights and choices
Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access your personal information, correct inaccuracies, erase information, restrict its use or receive eligible information in a portable form. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. We must consider that objection and stop the relevant use unless an applicable lawful ground allows it to continue. You can object to direct marketing at any time.
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal. Use the website cookie controls or the Analytics preferences link on /data/ to change your analytics choice. Browser settings can also remove stored cookies, but removing a cookie alone is not always the same as recording a new choice.
Email info@energyplains.co.uk to exercise a right. We may request proportionate information to verify identity and locate records. We normally respond without undue delay and within one month, subject to lawful identity, clarification and extension rules. We will explain any extension or refusal. Rights have legal conditions and exceptions; not every request requires deletion of all records.
Complaints
To complain about our handling of your personal information, email info@energyplains.co.uk and explain your concern. We will acknowledge a data protection complaint within 30 days, investigate appropriately and communicate the outcome without undue delay. You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection regulator. You do not have to give up that right while we investigate.
Contact the ICO or make a complaint
Changes to this notice
We update this notice when our services, uses of information or legal requirements change. The date and version identify the current wording. Where a change materially affects how we use your information, we will provide any additional notice or choice required before the new use begins.