Relation of ecological policy instruments and technological innovation in the solar thermal branch

By forming more strong industry federations and politically active institutions the solar thermal branch enforces the claim on its share of the global heating and cooling market. Recently, German politics decided to make another big step forward backing up the role of Renewables (RE) in announcing the Renewable Heat Law (EEWG = Erneuerbare Energien Wärme Gesetz). The combination of standards and quality certificates together with this new law and policies, like the market incentive program, causes side effects. For the further development of innovative products and materials this may have strong influence. This is especially true, if innovative products are not covered by the recent standards and therefore do not have access to subsidies. A qualitative empirical study was carried out focusing on the technological decision makers. The aim was to analyze the structure of decisions regarding technological innovation under the boundary conditions of changing policies, diffe rent quality certificates and a fast growing market of solar thermal products