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A research report from the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy says small businesses are heading up the country's charge toward green technology innovation.

Specifically, small companies have over 32% of the patents in smart grid and solar energy technologies and 15% in fuel cells and batteries. Interesting also that 80% of the truly productive inventors at small companies with five or more recent related patents had earlier worked for large companies or in university or government laboratories.

The report notes that the small innovators are 16 times more productive than larger companies from the perspective of patents per employee – and that those patents are cited more often, meaning their innovations are considered more influential and original. Earlier studies showed that small companies also were more likely to have more patents for emerging technologies.

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