By Scott Moritz

Solar tech stocks got a small jolt Wednesday after the U.S. Senate included an extension of renewable energy tax credits in its $700 billion financial bailout package.

A vote by the Senate on the financial rescue plan is expected Wednesday. If passed it will head to the House of Representatives, which could vote as early as Thursday. In a surprise move, the Senate version of the proposed package salvages key renewable energy subsidies left in limbo by the House last week.

“It was thought that this thing was likely dead until a new president was sworn in,” says Collins Stewart analyst Dan Ries, referring to the investment tax credit, or ITC.

Senate leaders included in the bailout bill extensions of the renewable energy investment and production tax credits that expire at the end of the year. “The legislation also includes alternative minimum tax relief and an increase of the FDIC insurance cap to $250,000; measures that will help the bill gain support with House members,” Ries wrote in a research note.

Solar stocks have had a particularly rocky week as uncertainty over whether the tax credits would be extended has left hanging billions of dollars in solar and wind projects in the pipeline.

“Today’s ITC development is certainly an unexpected positive catalyst, Barclays analyst Vishal Shah wrote Wednesday.

The Senate bill extends for three years the production tax credit crucial to the wind industry as well as grants an eight-year extension of the 30% investment tax credit for solar projects.

Solar wafer maker LDK Solar (LDK) rose 10% in midday trading Wednesday but is still down 36% in the past month. Similarly, solar cell manufacturer, JA Solar (JASO) was up 11% but still 34% down in the past 30 days. Silicon Valley solar module make SunPower (SPWRA) was up nearly 9% Wednesday.

While far from a done deal, Collins Stewart’s Ries is optimistic that the credit crisis has lawmakers in a conciliatory mood. “House and Senate have bounced different versions of solar bills back and forth over the past two weeks,” he says. “Given the urgency of the bailout plan, we believe there will be pressure to keep changes to this large package of legislation to a minimum.”

“There’s a ray of hope,” Ries added. “I’d give it a better than 50% chance of passing.”

By Michael V. Copeland

LAS VEGAS — The quiet here in a booth sponsored by Dell is at odds with the pandemonium all around at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Four plywood lounge chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames sit on a dark floor made of some obviously recycled material. In one chair , a guy with headphones covering most of his head quietly taps on a laptop. Squares of drought-resistant grass act as a border around displays highlighting how to live and work with less impact on the environment. A Plexiglas wall invites people to use a grease pencil and answer the question, “What Does Green Mean to You?”

Although it is often wrapped up in a good deal of marketing hype, it’s a question that is beginning to be asked by the exhibitors here at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Much of the “greening” of the technology world is by necessity. Stringent manufacturing standards and recycling goals must be met. But for their own success, gadget makers are developing new technologies that consume less energy so they can provide longer run times or cooler operating environments.

The goal is better functioning products that happen also to be greener than the power-sucking alternatives. Chip makers like Intel (INTC), Broadcom (BRCM) and Marvell (MRVL) have been beating that drum for several years and are getting amazing results. At this year’s CES, Broadcom is showing off powerful yet very efficient chips that enable things like the playback of high-definition  video on a cell phone. Other companies like Sony (SNE) and Samsung are using organic light emitting diodes to offer super-thin, bright and incredibly efficient screens. Are these kinds of technologies overtly green? No, but they are headed in the right direction.

A new cluster of companies at CES this year featuring “sustainable technologies” are overtly environmental. Some of the companies in this group include, Freeplay Energy which makes solar-powered radios and Meraki Networks, which sells solar-powered WiFi gear and aims to build a free WiFi network in San Francisco. This CES green group is a start, but it is a ridiculously small bunch of fewer than 10 companies.

Still other companies outside of this group have come to CES with a green agenda. One that is making a splash at CES is a company called Green Plug. The Silicon Valley startup previewed its technology Monday — an electronics component chip that provides a layer of intelligence so that gadgets can talk to their power source and make more efficient use of energy, whether it’s from a battery or a wall plug. Applications range from consumer electronics to cars, aircraft and power tools. And GM (GM) on Tuesday will unveil its Cadillac Provoq concept car, which it says will be “free from petroleum fuel and emissions.” That can only mean all-electric or maybe a hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle.

Back at Dell’s little green oasis, which must be noted is separate from the massive main Dell (DELL) booth and is tucked into the “sustainable technologies” area, spokesman Adam Schaeffer looks around at the mostly empty booth and stresses, “This is all about promoting the start of a conversation.” Nigel Williams, one of the 140,000 CES warriors here in attendance, walks up to the Plexiglas wall and ponders the question, “What Does Green Mean to You?” Next to replies already written in green, yellow and pink grease pencil that say things like “Hope” and “Breathing clean air,” Williams writes a simple statement, “There needs to be more green products.”

He’s right.