Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

Planted forests can contribute addressing problems of global concern such as climate change mitigation, biodiversity lost and pressure on ecosystems due to high demand of forestry products. However, in order to be able to profit from these benefits sustainably, production rates of forest regeneration materials should be higher than the harvesting rates. Nevertheless, intensive production methods often bring along adverse consequences for the environment. In the frame of the ZEPHYR project, funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), innovative and cost-friendly technologies for the pre-cultivation are being developed. They will be integrated into a functional and transportable system for a large scale production of seedlings, with zero-impact on the environment and not affected by outdoor conditions. To achieve this, high efficiency devices with low energy consumption will be used and the incubator will be powered by solar energy. This work aims to present the efforts made to reduce the energy loads and optimize the photovoltaic (PV) system. The power system will also be capable of connecting to the electricity grid, using a diesel generator as a back-up, and a battery bank with at least one day of autonomy (up to 7 kWh/day) in central European latitudes.