To achieve further technical development numerous conditions were discussed, where the governmental power to influence consumers’ choice of system was stressed; the government should clearly point out the political standpoint in energy issues, and to be valid more than one term of office it should preferably be disconnected from party politics. This standpoint could be conveyed for example by the municipal energy advisors and the Swedish Energy Agency, but also by making long­term regulations about heating in new buildings. The legislation in some countries, where solar collectors must be installed in new-build residential buildings, and wishes for similar legislations in Sweden were often mentioned. The influence of politicians and celebrities on the costumers was stressed, and several informants wished for those to show their attitudes in the issue, to act role models. But above all, the market has to be predictable; the companies have to know what conditions will be valid also in the long run and what subsidies there will be, to avoid strong declines, as that from which the pellet industry suffers at present.

The reliability of the systems, with focus on the pellet boilers, must be improved; “the technique has to keep its promises”. The system solution has to offer comfortable and secure heating, but also a reliable solution. Both solar collectors and pellet burners were traditionally often home-made in study circles or by inventors “in the bushes” and the technique was sometimes not well-functioning, resulting in bad reputation, which recoils on the trade as a whole. In addition, the systems have to be well-designed; undergo an aesthetical improvement to visually attract people. As one informant expressed it “we can make it cool, make it in fashion, trendy. Just like the Germans, Austrians, where you are proud of your pellet plant and your solar plant because you are environmental-friendly.” The necessity of easily operated systems is pointed out as a main issue, often in comparison to the success of heat pumps.

“The consumer of today only wants to press a button and nothing more, and if one [system supplier] does not realize that one makes a demand on the costumer that the common man does not want”.

One of the prime issues to reach out is better economical conditions to enable increased marketing, and thereby become visible. Most costumers do not know enough about the systems or the problems and possibilities with different heating systems in general. The marketing has to be more professional and it would be advantageous for the solar and pellet trade to cooperate to reach out with neutral information, preferably supplied by independent organizations or authorities. The success of the heat pumps and how to reach the same position for solar and pellet systems were mentioned in more or less every interview. Some informants talked about heat pumps as the evil enemy; while most interviewees focused on how to learn from their success. The difficulty in competing with the heat pump industry was however obvious due to the large difference in economical assets. The problem so far has been the small solar and pellet companies, but there is a belief in a change in the near future, when larger actors with larger monetary assets are getting increased interested in those issues.