World Earth Day | New Energy Industry Team: Analysis of Legal Issues in the Operation of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Plants

If the land for photovoltaic power generation projects involves the use of construction land, compensation shall be made for the expropriation of land in accordance with the provisions. However, in reality, repeated compensation is often required. For example, a ground power station has already compensated for the land occupation. After it is put into operation, some farmers sow crops under photovoltaic panels without authorization and ask for compensation for young crops after the crops grow. Crops will not only affect the safe operation of power facilities, but also face the risk of repeated compensation.

1. Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Office of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Office of the State Energy Administration, on Supporting the Development of the Photovoltaic Power Generation Industry to Standardize Land Use Management (Natural Resources Office No. 2023), "3. to speed up the formalities for project land use (II) timely formalities for land acquisition or leasing. If the land for photovoltaic power generation projects involves the use of construction land, land acquisition procedures can be handled in accordance with the provisions."

2. Article 40 of the Land Management Law stipulates that fair and reasonable compensation shall be given to the expropriation of land to ensure that the original living standards of the land-expropriated farmers are not reduced and their long-term livelihoods are guaranteed.

3. Article 1165 of the Civil Code, if the perpetrator causes damage to the civil rights and interests of others by fault, he shall bear tort liability.

4. Article 179 of the Civil Code, the main ways of assuming civil liability are: cessation of infringement, removal of obstruction, elimination of danger, return of property, restoration of the original state ......; the ways of assuming civil liability provided for in this article may be applied separately or in combination.

5. Article 4 of the Regulations on the Protection of Electric Power Facilities states that electric power facilities are protected by state law, and any unit or individual is prohibited from engaging in acts that endanger electric power facilities. All units and individuals have the obligation to protect power facilities and have the right to stop and report to the power management department and the public security department any act that endangers power facilities.

First, the management of the power station needs to strengthen the care and management of the photovoltaic power station and its surrounding facilities, build fences, hang warning signs, and prohibit idle personnel from entering the power generation area and approaching the power station equipment, so as to avoid repeated compensation due to new planting activities. Second, if there is any act that endangers the operation safety of power facilities, the relevant responsible persons can be requested to stop the infringement, eliminate the obstruction and compensate for the losses through administrative reports.

During the lease term, the property rights change or the rights are restricted, how to deal with the management of the photovoltaic power station.

1. Article 725 of the Civil Code, the change of ownership of the leased property during the period of possession of the lessee in accordance with the lease contract shall not affect the validity of the lease contract.

2. Article 20 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Disputes over Urban Housing Lease Contracts, the people's court shall support the change of ownership of the leased house during the lease period and the lessee requests the transferee of the house to continue to perform the original lease contract. However, the leased house has the following circumstances or the parties agree otherwise: (1) the house has established a mortgage before the lease, and the ownership changes due to the mortgagee's realization of the mortgage; the (II) house has been sealed up by the people's court according to law before the lease.

1. Generally speaking, the construction site has been leased to the power station management, and the subsequent property rights changes are protected by the "sale without breaking the lease" and will not affect the power station's use of the cooperation site. After the change of property rights, timely interface with the transferee, through the provision of the original contract, etc., to inform it of the existence of a lease relationship, need to continue to perform, or after negotiation within the framework of the original contract to sign a new lease contract.

2, if the construction site has been mortgaged, the lease contract signed without the consent of the mortgagee, the construction site property rights due to litigation cases change, at this time can not claim "sale does not break the lease", should closely follow the progress of the case, according to the current situation, with the new property owner consultation, negotiation, re-signing a new lease agreement.

During the lease term, the project has been put into operation, and the construction site is subject to expropriation and demolition. As the management of the photovoltaic power station of the lessee, it is not the owner of the house. It is often impossible to negotiate directly with government departments alone, nor can it independently sign compensation agreements to obtain compensation. The right to speak is weak.

1. Article 2 of the regulations on the expropriation and compensation of houses on state-owned land, for the needs of public interests, the expropriation of houses of units and individuals on state-owned land shall give fair compensation to the owners of the expropriated houses.

2. Article 327 of the Civil Code, where the usufructuary right is extinguished or affects the exercise of the usufructuary right due to the expropriation or expropriation of real or movable property, the usufructuary right holder shall have the right to obtain corresponding compensation in accordance with the provisions of Articles 243 and 245 of this Law.

1. When using the roof, the power station management can obtain the right to use the roof by means of an easement, then the lessee will be transformed into a beneficial property right holder and can be compensated in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

2. In the lease contract or energy management agreement, the repurchase clause shall be agreed in advance and the conditions shall be set. When the expropriation and demolition occur, the power station facilities shall be transferred to the lessor (the property owner), and the demolition compensation shall be handled uniformly. At the same time, it is agreed on the distribution and calculation method of demolition compensation.

3. The power station management may agree that the property owner of the construction site shall authorize the power station management and the property owner to participate in the negotiation of expropriation and demolition together, and the demolition compensation agreement can only be signed by adopting the "principle of mutual consent"; and the property owner shall be set up for breach of contract liability in violation of the "principle of mutual consent.

After the construction of the power station is completed, the boundary point of the property right of the power facility and the agreement on the property right of the power facility are not clear or improperly maintained.

Article 51 of the Rules of the Ministry of Electric Power Industry on Power Supply Business stipulates that legal liability arising from accidents on power supply facilities shall be determined according to the ownership of the power supply facilities. Whoever the property right belongs to shall bear the legal liability arising from the accident on the power supply facilities owned by him. However, the owner of the property right shall not bear the legal liability caused by the accident caused by the victim's violation of safety or other rules and regulations and unauthorized entry into the non-safe area of the power supply facility, as well as the legal liability caused by the accident caused by the improper maintenance of the agent on the power supply facility entrusted for maintenance.

1. The two parties shall clarify the demarcation point of property rights in the agreement and determine the demarcation point of property rights and the ownership of power facilities. On-site management, confirm by taking photos or signing, and fix the evidence.

2. Both parties shall jointly take clear identification and sealing measures for the demarcation point of property rights to avoid malicious damage and unauthorized adjustment of the device by others, which will affect the normal operation of the device and the calculation of power consumption for power generation.

Distributed roof power station, built on the roof of the lessor's factory building, coupled with long-term operation, improper management or bad weather, the equipment may fall off, causing personal or property damage to others.

Article 1253 of the Civil Code stipulates that if a building, structure or other facility and its shelving or hanging objects fall off or fall and cause damage to others, and the owner, manager or user cannot prove that he is not at fault, he shall bear tort liability. After the owner, manager or user has paid compensation, if there are other responsible persons, they shall have the right to recover compensation from the other responsible persons.

1. In this case, the principle of presumption of fault is applicable. If the power station management cannot prove that it is not at fault, it shall bear tort liability. Therefore, the power station management shall regularly reinforce and inspect the photovoltaic roof facilities, fulfill its management and maintenance obligations, and avoid damage to the rights and interests of others. If personal and property damage caused by failure to fulfill its management and maintenance obligations, it shall be liable for compensation.

2, it is recommended to buy the corresponding commercial insurance, in the event of an accident, reduce the risk of compensation.

Power generation as a highly hazardous operation, improper management or violation of safe operation regulations may lead to electric shock accidents.

Article 1240 of the Civil Code stipulates that if the operator engages in high-altitude, high-pressure, underground excavation activities or uses high-speed rail transport to cause damage to others, the operator shall bear tort liability; however, if it can be proved that the damage was caused by the victim intentionally or by force majeure, he shall not be liable. If the infringed is grossly negligent in the occurrence of the damage, the liability of the operator may be reduced.

When an accident caused by high-voltage electricity causes damage, the principle of no-fault liability is adopted. The tortfeasor cannot fail to bear tort liability by proving that he is not at fault for the damage. Only when it is proved that there is no liability or mitigation of liability as stipulated by law, can a legitimate defense be formed; the reasons for exemption or reduction of liability in high-voltage electric shock cases mainly include the victim's fault and force majeure.

Therefore, the power station management party needs to strengthen the prudent management obligation in the daily operation and management, such as the safety warning obligation (such as hanging warning signs), reasonable safety measures (such as closed management of photovoltaic roof passages, and no one can enter at will), etc. In addition, in case of an accident, the front-line on-site disposal personnel should collect evidence in a standardized, timely and comprehensive manner to reduce the risk of adverse evidence in disputes (litigation).

Most of the roof distributed photovoltaic power stations are built on the factory buildings of large-scale enterprises. The factories are densely populated with workers, machinery and vehicles, which inevitably meet with cooperative enterprises in the process of operation, which is easy to cause safety production accidents.

1. Article 134 of the Criminal Law, which violates the provisions on safety management in production and operation, resulting in major casualties or other serious consequences, constitutes the crime of major liability accident.

2. Article 1165 of the Civil Code, if the perpetrator causes damage to the civil rights and interests of others by fault, he shall bear tort liability.

The management of the power station shall attach great importance to safety management and strictly implement the responsibility for safe production. We should not only abide by the safety management system of the power station, but also obey the safety regulations of the property right party (enterprise), earnestly achieve double safety management, and avoid the occurrence of production safety accidents from the source. Once a production safety accident occurs and causes losses, in addition to bearing civil liability for compensation, if the circumstances are serious, they may also face criminal risks.