While nuclear giant Areva declined to disclose how much it plans to pay for solar thermal startup Ausra this week, the deal speaks volumes about greentech exits (or a lack there of) as well as the solar thermal industry.

For several of the venture capitalists who collectively invested close to $130 million into Ausra, including Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures, this week’s deal marks one of their first exits in the greentech industry. If you check out Kleiner and Khosla’s portfolio companies on their websites, no other startups have been disclosed to have been bought or gone public (if Silver Spring Networks or Amyris go public Kleiner will have some big ones coming soon).

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The famously private investor David Gelbaum, founder of The Quercus Trust, and who by his own estimates has between 40 and 50 cleantech investments, as a rule hasn’t done interviews for years. According to the last comprehensive story on him, published in the LA Times in 2004, the former math whiz, hedge fund manager and philanthropist, is so anonymous he’s sometimes mistaken for his gardener. But this afternoon, on the heels of Gelbaum accepting the role of CEO of one of his portfolio companies Entech Solar (the first time he’s taken over as CEO), Gelbaum got on the phone with us to chat about the potential of solar, how he’s lost money in greentech so far, and his focus on making some returns.

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Whoa — big news on the solar thermal front today, as French power giant Areva says it’s agreed to buy solar thermal startup Ausra. Back in November there were several media reports that said Ausra was in talks to be acquired by one of three companies, and it looks like Areva won the deal. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Areva, which has a large nuclear portfolio, says it will use the Ausra acquisition to become “the world leader in concentrated solar power,” and will sell solar thermal tech to utilities and independent power producers. Solar thermal technology uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun rays to power turbines, and utilities have been turning to it in droves as of late.

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Update: Petra Solar, which develops pole-mounted solar systems for electric utilities, announced Monday that it has raised $40 million in funding led by Craton Equity Partners and Espírito Santo Ventures with participation from existing investors including OnPoint Technologies, a venture fund for the U.S. Army. 

Petra Solar said it will use the new funding to expand its customer base and hire more staff. The South Plainfield, N.J.-based company also said it plans to expand its product line to address new applications and market segments. We’re still waiting for comment from Petra Solar, but we’re thinking that those new applications and markets might have to do with commercial and residential customers. The company’s website has dedicated sections for commercial and residential products and services.

Update: Petra Solar CEO Shihab Kuran has confirmed for us that the company will use the funding to expand into commercial and residential markets, but always with “utilities in mind as partners,” such as those with initiatives to add PV to their customers’ roofs. Also, the startup will use the funding to expand its applications for utilities, such as around smart grid, mounting systems and grid reliability.

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Solar startup 1366 Technologies has closed $5.15 million in a second round of funding from North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners and plans to announce the funding this morning. Xconomy first reported the story yesterday, and according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday, the cash is part of a round expected to total $6.2 million.

The new cash comes after 1366 raised $4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, becoming the first (and so far, the only) photovoltaic startup to be selected. The MIT spinoff, founded in 2007, also previously raised $12.4 million back in March.

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Tools and services for improving a home’s energy efficiency — things like Energy Star appliances, home energy audits and green roofing materials — often lack the glitz and gadget-appeal of solar panels and other highly visible signs that a homeowner has “gone green.” But according to a new report out today from Pike Research, energy efficiency retrofits, products and services for the residential building market are poised to see a wave of growth as the U.S. pulls out of recession over the next five years.

In particular, Pike forecasts that the home energy auditing market will nearly triple to $23 billion by 2014, up from $8.1 billion last year. The market for efficiency improvements along the lines of roofing and window replacements and upgrades for HVAC systems and appliances will increase to $50.2 billion by 2014, up from $38.3 billion in 2009, the firm predicts. And Energy Star refrigerators and clothes washers could generate revenues of $21.9 billion to $33.2 billion between 2009 and 2014.

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Climate Spies (or Lobbyists): “Britain’s former chief science adviser says the theft of climate e-mails from the University of East Anglia in southern England may have been the work of spies,” or possibly U.S.-based lobbyists. – Associated Press via Washington Post

Incentives Proposed for Small-Scale Solar, Wind: “The U.K. government Monday introduced incentives for small-scale green electricity generation and published its plans to encourage low-carbon heating technologies, as it seeks to boost renewable energy supply to meet European Union 2020 climate change targets.” — Dow Jones Newswires

1BOG, One Year Later: San Francisco startup One Block Off the Grid, or 1BOG, says that it pulled together enough groups of homeowners to have 550 solar systems installed in 2009 (it collects referral fees from installers), and saw a profit. — NYT’s Green Inc.

Inextricable Links: For the first time, the Pentagon’s primary planning document addresses the threat of global warming, noting that “climate change, energy security, and economic stability are inextricably linked.” – The Wonk Room via Grist

Chevy Volt Rollout Plan: Everywhere Simultaneously: General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre says the automaker plans to introduce the upcoming Chevy Volt “everywhere simultaneously,” at low volumes, rather than sequentially state by state. — GM-Volt

The Obama administration released its proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year this morning, and within the more than $3.8 trillion plan are several programs that could help shift the playing field for greentech startups and energy companies. To start, there’s direct support for the renewable energy, carbon capture and smart grid industries, through loan guarantees, research and development project funding and other programs. Glaringly absent is the $646 billion in revenues that last year’s budget assumed would come from a program for limiting and trading carbon allowances, signaling dwindling confidence that the Senate will pass a bill with a cap and trade system this year.

The administration has also proposed to take a nearly $39 billion bite out of tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry that some advocates of renewable energy sources like solar and wind argue have blocked the gateway to grid parity and fair competition. The bulk of those cuts — $36.5 billion worth through 2020 (a small fraction of the sector’s projected revenue) – are targeted at the oil and natural gas industry ), while Obama proposes cutting tax breaks for the coal industry worth some $2.3 billion in that time frame.

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After reading over electric vehicle startup Tesla’s S-1 filing on Friday, after it filed for an IPO to raise up to $100 million, it’s clear that Tesla has a few things in spades: a stellar brand, lots of losses, and pretty much a single plan to generate profits in the coming years, the Model S. The company has only sold 937 Roadsters (as of the end of 2009), will have a large gap between selling its current generation Roadster (which it won’t sell after 2011) and its next generation Roadster (which won’t be sold at least until 2013) and has no other third-party deals beyond the limited Daimler supply deal.

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Two years: That’s how long a new “blue ribbon” commission assembled by the Department of Energy has to finalize a report that will look at a path forward for nuclear energy in the U.S. power supply. Created under an executive order from President Obama, the 15-person commission announced today plans to “conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.”

In other words, the group is charged with tackling the controversial question of how to deal with nuclear fuel and waste in a safe and environmentally responsible way — delivering an interim report with recommendations within 18 months and a final report six months later. That report is meant to include advice on how to store, process and dispose of nuclear fuel and waste from both nuclear and civilian use. Former Congressman Lee Hamilton, who served as Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission and will co-chair the nuclear commission, said in a call with reporters today his team will be “open to all options,” whether “interim or permanent.”

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