I'm not really familiar with the code. But, isn't there a way to adjust the difficulty as a function of total hashing power of your network? The lower the network hash rate, the lower the difficulty should be. The software of many cryptocurrencies usually does this automatically after a certain period of time, reassessing the target (difficulty) to meet the average total hashing power.
I will look into that. Right now the difficulty seems to be fairly easy - you can mine several hundred PHL each day with just a CPU; but its the time between blocks that is a problem because it takes too long for a transaction to become confirmed. Thanks for the advice!
As far as I know, speed for confirming transactions depends on hashing speed. That means, the more hash power you have, the faster you will get the job done. But my knowledge is limited, so there could be other reasons for slower transaction confirmation.