1. Introduction Background Method Findings Discussion Conclusion Renewable energy technologies are a relatively new market entrant in Australia. In the overarching context of energy dependence, climate change and economic growth for Australian industry, much attention has been placed on the role that these renewable energy products and services can, and will, have in the modern Australian energy and innovation system. A range of literature exists that explores the risks faced by small and medium enterprises – SME's (e.g. Kirytopoulos, Leopoulos and Malandrakis, 2001; Brown, Hendry and Harbone, 2007), or are specific to one type of renewable energy technology (Finlay-Jones, 2006; Healy & Bunting, 2008). We hypothesise that a number of internal, intermediary and external risks for SME's in the renewable energy sector exist in addition to the risks for other technology-driven SME's, such as the public perception of renewable energy and Federal and State energy policy. As there is no overarching framework within the literature that integrates risks and their management for SME's dealing with renewable energy technologies in the Australian context, we aim to discern how these factors facilitate or hinder product innovation for these companies at the different stages of product innovation, and how uncertainty about these factors is managed by the SME's. To aid our categorisation of stages of product development within renewable energy firms, we have adapted categories used by Foxon et al (2005) to describe innovation: 1)R&D 2)Demonstration 3)Pre-commercial 4)Supported commercial 5)Fully commercial Our prime focus is on factors that are deemed to affect risk managment practices from the business perspective in Australian SME's involved with renewable energy technology. The concepts that have been collected so far and presented here originate primarily from peer-reviewed journal articles, published books, conference papers and various research reports. There have been several areas of focus within the literature review, namely renewable energy technology itself, innovation and new product development, risks and their management in technology development, small and medium enterprises, risk management in SME’s, and government policy on energy and innovation and its critique. In terms of geographical location of the studies included in our literature review, the interests have predominantly been in Australian related publications. However, considering the relatively small number of these, we have additionally looked broader to include international literature (e.g. Foxon et al, 2005; Branscomb & Auerswald, 2002; Jacobbson & Johnson, 2000), and some country specific literature, e.g. renewable energy technologies in Denmark and the USA (Shum & Watanabe, 2008). Assumptions from this literature will be tested through a comprehensive field survey of the renewable energy technology companies. Figure 1 presents factors that SME's involved in renewable energy technology need to cope with (green) in addition to the factors that generic SME’s involved in technology in Australia face (orange). These factors then relate to the risks that the SME’s are exposed to. Additionally, the complexity of the innovation process and new product development needs to be taken into account. Factors that pose risk to these SME's at different product innovation stages differ to some extent, as shown on figure 2. For example, the R&D capability of the renewable energy technology firm poses a greater risk at the initial concept stage of product innovation than at any other phase, yet Government energy policy and human resources requirements will have impact on the SME at every stage of product development. In terms of the risk management strategies that SME’s employ, the literature mainly addresses those which are explicitly related to financing and market risk and the collaboration/investment relationships developed with research institutions, the private sector and government at various stages of the innovation process (e.g. Branscomb & Auerswald, 2002; UNEO, 2004; Sonntag-O’Brien & Usher, 2004). Within the literature is also found the assertion that firm characteristics and the owner/manager personality are highly influential on the SME’s pathway from product concept to full commercialization (e.g. De Jong & Vermuelen, 2006; Copus, 2008). However, the discussion of risk addressed in the available literature must be substantiated through interviews with Australian SME's involved with renewable energy technology. INVESTIGATING RISKS FACED BY THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN RENEWABLE ENERGY NEW TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR Alison Evans and Melissa Sedmak, School of Risk and Safety Sciences, UNSW Implications of this research, so far, are the internal, intermediary and external factors that can pose risk to Australian renewable energy SMEs’ product innovation have not yet been adequately addressed in the available literature. Consequently, the analysis of interviews with the SME's from this sector, will highlight which particular risks that these companies face require further study within the Australian context. Additionally, it is hoped that this study will provide information to support improved internal risk management for renewable energy technology SME's. Contact details Dr Sedmak School of Risk and Safety Sciences University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney 2052 Ph: 02 9385 5342 m.sedmak@unsw.edu.au