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14 Pág. Instituto de Ciencias Forestales (ICIFOR), The study of the short-term post-burn tree growth in a mixed stand of Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster and in a pure stand of P. nigra in the Cuenca Mountains (Spain) will enable us to determine the disturbance of prescribed burning conducted in two seasons. Dendrochronological methods and mixed modelling were used to investigate whether tree growth responses are influ-enced by stand and tree characteristics, fire season and fire severity variables. The findings revealed that prescribed burning scarcely affected tree growth. The type of stand (mixed or pure) was not critical for tree growth. The individual tree characteristics were significant factors in all the scenarios studied. The inclusion of some fire severity variables for the first time in tree growth models showed that the maximum scorch height determined a main part of the variability of tree growth. The time during which the temperature was above 60 °C in the cambium region and temperature was above 300 °C in the bark surface were only significant factors after spring burnings. The litterfall one year after the prescribed burning was not a significant factor in any of the models. Overall, the findings confirm the characteristic resistance of P. nigra to surface fires and favor the potential application of prescribed burning programs for this species in the Mediterranean Basin., This study was supported by the Spanish R&D GEPRIF projects (Fire Severity Reduction through New Tools and Technologies for Integrated Forest Fire Protection Management) and VIS4FIRE (Integrated Vulnerability of Forest Systems to Wildfire: Implications on Forest ManagementTools) (RTA2014-00011-C06-01 and RTA2017-00042-C05-01). GEPRIF and VIS4FIRE are co-funded by the EU through the FEDER program. This study was also co-financed by INIA (FPI-SGIT 2015) and the European Social Fund through a grant awarded to Juncal Espinosa. Dario Martin-Benito was funded by projects AGL2015-73190-JIN, RYC-2017-23389 and PID2019-110273RB-I00

18 figures, 9 tables.-- This article belongs to the Special Issue Standalone Renewable Energy System—Modeling and Controlling - II., This work addresses the choice of the economically optimal type of battery (lead-acid or Li-ion) to be used in photovoltaic or hybrid standalone energy systems. Factors that encourage one or the other type of battery are identified. Standalone renewable energy systems usually incorporate batteries to get a steady energy supply. Currently, Li-ion batteries are gradually displacing lead-acid ones. In practice, the choice is made without previous comparison of its profitability in each case. This work compares the economic performance of both types of battery, in five real case studies with different demand profiles. For each case, two sets of simulations are carried out. In one of the sets, the energy demand is supplied by a standalone photovoltaic system and, in the other one, by a standalone hybrid photovoltaic-diesel system. Through optimization processes, the economic optimum solutions are obtained. In addition, sensitivity analyses on various parameters have been carried out, seeking the influence in favor of one or another type of battery. The results show that if the type of battery is changed, to achieve the economic optimum the entire system must be resized. In some cases, the economic optimum is reached with Li-ion and in others with lead-acid batteries, depending on the demand profiles. Thus, both types of batteries can be profitable options in standalone energy systems, with a greater tendency to lead-acid in fully photovoltaic systems and to Li-ion in hybrids. The price reductions that would make Li-ion the only choice is quantified.