The White House revealed its budget proposals for fiscal 2010 and it pretty much sticks with the plans already laid out by the President. The White House has proposed a $26.8 billion budget for the Department of Energy. That's lower than the $33.9 budget for 2009. The difference comes because the 2010 budget does not include the $7.5 billion in emergency loans or the $250 weatherization programs. It is higher than the budgets for 2006 ($23.6 billion), 207 ($23.7 billion) or 2008 ($24.1 billion.). The 2010 totals, however, don't include the $39 billion that will go to the smart grid and solar industries (among others) through the Recovery Act so the total going to energy is a lot higher. but more importantly, the priorities have been shifted around. The President reaffirmed the commitment to double research in basic sciences. Smart grid and energy efficiency was listed as the first priority beneath that and right below that was carbon capture. ($3.4 billion has already been dedicated to carbon capture in the Recovery Act.) The nuclear depository at Yucca Mountain, however, will be "scaled back." That may not be a blow to the nuclear industry. The political hot water surrounding Yucca Mountain, along with increasing support for recycling fuel has even made staunch nuclear advocates see this as a non-starter. Meanwhile, over in the Department of Transportation, there's a five-year, $5 billion request for high speed rail. The 2010 budget rises to $72.5 billion from $70.6 billion in 2008, but the 2010 figure doesn't include $48 billion tucked into the Recovery Act. Interestingly, the Department of the Interior stays nearly flat at $12 million but there's additional funding for national parks and water conservation.

Silver Spring Networks on Thursday revealed the company behind its ZigBee-enabled smart meter communications — Vancouver-based Exegin Technologies Ltd.

Silver Spring, the high-profile startup that’s providing the communications and networking equipment for hundreds of thousands of smart meters being deployed by Pacific Gas & Electric, Florida Power & Light, American Electric Power and other utilities, has been on the ZigBee bandwagon for months.

That makes sense, since the protocol based on the 802.15.4 standard is emerging as a favorite for bringing communications from smart meters to in-home power monitoring and control equipment.

Being part of Silver Spring’s system puts Exegin in the smart grid spotlight. The companies have been working together since September, but on Thursday announced that Silver Spring was licensing Exegin’s ZigBee PRO protocol stack software for the ZigBee radios that are a part of Silver Spring’s network interface cards.

Those ZigBee radios are now going into the “vast majority� of the communications cards Silver Spring is putting in other vendors’ smart meters, James Pace, Silver Spring senior director of business development, said Thursday.

As of this week, PG&E had deployed more than 150,000 Silver Spring-enabled electric meters out of the million it plans to have in place by 2011, and Silver Spring hopes to see up to 2 million meters deployed by the end of this year, he said.

Other companies in Exegin’s line of business include Alektrona and Digi International. All three are members of the ZigBee Alliance, the industry group that has developed the “smart energy profile� version of the protocol for use in so-called “home area networks� — the hoped-for future realm of home energy displays, smart thermostats and appliances that can monitor power use and curtail it on the command of homeowners or utilities.

One reason Silver Spring chose Exegin, Pace said, was for its experience in “bridging and gateway technologies.� That’s important, because ZigBee is competing — or perhaps collaborating — with an alternative form of in-home communication that uses existing electrical wiring to carry data.

Companies working on power line communication include Echelon Corp. with its power line signaling technology, and a host of companies that are working on an alternative technology under the umbrella of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance.

In September, the ZigBee and HomePlug groups agreed to work together with a number of utilities to create a common application layer for both technologies.

Carrying data over power lines could make more sense for apartment buildings and other larger multi-family residences, where electric meters may be in the basement, too far away for ZigBee to carry. Then a gateway device could bridge that to ZigBee radios in individual apartments.

And Exegin’s experience in making devices like its ZigBee-to-Ethernet gateways could easily translate to making a ZigBee-to-HomePlug gateway, Pace said.

“There are a number of people playing with that technology,� he said.

When we listed the incentives in the $787 billion federal stimulus package two weeks ago, we reported that a provision that would convert the 30 percent investment tax credit into a cash payment for commercial solar projects would also apply to residential solar installations. It turned out the information we received from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) was incorrect. A rep for the SEIA now tells us there was “some miscommunication down the chain.�

We'd like to thank Kirstin Hoefer, chief marketing officer for Sungevity, a solar installer in Berkeley, Calif., for explaining that residential installations won’t benefit from the cash-payment provision. But they will still get the 30 percent tax credit.

The idea behind turning the tax credit into a grant is to make the money available sooner for large-scale projects. Because of the credit crunch, bankers and other investors have been reluctant to loan money to developers looking to raise millions of dollars to build and operate each solar power plant.

Wacker Chemie, the German silicon producer, said it would build a $1 billion plant in near Cleveland, Tenn. this week to produce polysilicon. Although the chip industry buys silicon too, the growth market is in solar. The deal follows an announcement back in December by Hemlock Semiconductor to build a $1.2 billion plant near Clarksville. The Wacker plant will employ around 500 to 600 people. Both plants will begin operations in 2012. At that time, we could be beyond the current economic debacle. “Wacker is one of the biggest polysilicon producers, and they have been looking to expand in the U.S. for some time now,� Shyam Mehta, an analyst at Greentech Media, told the Tennessean. (Think I may have met Mehta once.) “The solar industry is growing very strong, creating a demand for polysilicon. In response, there have been a lot of announcements by producers about expanding their capacity worldwide.� The real interesting part here is that Tennessee seems to have honed in on a specialty in cleantech. Producing silicon may not be as glamorous as making solar cells, but someone has got to do it. States and nations that learn how to craft workable incentive/infrastructure plans to attract particular industries will likely profit in the coming decades on the green buildout.

Solyndra, the well-funded manufacturer of cylindrical CIGS solar cells, is sending in the paperwork to obtain loans from the Department of Energy to build and operate a solar factory. These applications are going to become a great way to get a detailed view of its manufacturing plans. Someone sent us the environmental assessment documents and here are some fun facts. The company is currently building a 110-megawatt facility in Fremont, Calif. and wants to follow up with a 420-megawatt plant that will contain six production lines. The 110-megawatt facility will be partially built with DOE loans but the 420-megawatt facility will require loans. The larger facility will break ground, ideally, in 2010 and be fully built out by 2011, according to the application. The 420-megawatt facility will employ about 120 people, according to Solyndra's application. It will consist of over 609,000 square feet. 532,200 square feet will be dedicated to manufacturing space, around 64,000 will go to office space, 11,000 will go to a cafeteria and another 4,000 square feet will go to a company gym. The gym is a drop in the bucket. Besides, healthy employees keep costs down so putting a gym in the factory is perfectly legit. (Anything that doesn't lead to Wall Street employees getting money is actually OK in my book at this point.) But it is sort of fun to point out and no doubt there will be some that try to exploit the system. The next nine months should produce an interesting array of documents.

Advanced Equities: the name sounds harmless enough. But to some VCs it means, "Uhh. Maybe I won't pick up the phone." The firm tends to specialize in raising late stage funds for companies that have been in startup mode for a while. It is currently helping Bloom Energy raise a sixth round of $150 million. Greentech is tough and often requires a lot of capital. Advanced often works with Kleiner, Perkins. But some VCs in the Valley have told me they tend to be skeptical when the company calls. There is a theory -- whether true or not, I do not know -- that the Advanced deals are really aimed more at getting high-net worth individuals to invest in these late rounds than VCs. Here's an article with more. Again, it's just a theory. I could have a small sample. It could be a natural aversion to sales calls. The company has also clearly participated in important deals. I've tried to get in touch with Advanced but they have a phone tree that's about as helpful and informative as a bodyguard at a celebrity wedding. But the VCs I've talked to about the firm have told me that their first reaction when it comes to an Advanced deal is to approach with caution. In fact, the VCs tend to be the ones that bring up the company's involvement in a deal as a relevant point.

I didn't even know there was a Round F. Does this one go to eleven? The smug, highly secretive solid oxide fuel cell maker is said to be trying to raise a sixth round of venture funding. The new round is for $150 million, according to VentureWire. In all, that would bring the total in funding to over $400 million. Sources close to the company say that the mood inside is upbeat and that Bloom may soon discuss its technology. But we've heard this before. Bloom essentially makes a stationary device for industrial sites that produces power from chemical reactions. Bloom tends to have a selective form of paranoia. If the New York Times or Tom Friedman come knocking, the doors open. All others use the service entrance. Unfortunately, the obsequious gushing coverage of the company has yet to hit on one of the most important questions how come over six years of work and hundreds of millions in capital has resulted in virtually zero commercially available solid oxide fuel cells from the company? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fun side note: Bloom used to be called Ion America, which made it the only company in greentech to have a name that you could confuse with an afternoon TV talk show.