MAZOMAINE, Wis. -- A new solar panel manufacturing plant held its grand opening Tuesday in Mazomanie, which means new jobs for the area and hopeful future for renewable energy in the state.

Mazomanie has lost a couple of major manufacturers in the past few years. The community lost Sunny Industries in 2007. It reopened as Synergy Graphics, which ultimately closed in August of last year.

But with the opening of Cardinal Solar Technologies Tuesday, Mazomanie is going green for the future of manufacturing.

The glass-tempering plant will produce glass for solar panels.

The governor said he hopes the company's solar future spurs green growth in the state.

"Modern manufacturing that is focused on energy conservation, this is the future of our state. This is where we are going," said Gov. Jim Doyle.

Cardinal Glass has 10 plants across the state that make efficient window glass. Mazomanie's plant is a start into solar panels.

"For 30 years, Cardinal has been producing glass products that help people conserve energy," said Bill Bond, president of Cardinal ST Company. "We're now able to apply many of these same manufacturing techniques to glass that will ultimately be used to help generate energy."

Cardinal said it hopes to expand its current 54 employees in Mazomanie to 100 and to manufacture eight million glass panels a year.

"Someone is going to make the products necessary to change our environmental conditions, and we intend to be there," said Roger O'Shaughnessy, CEO of Cardinal Glass Industries.

The plant is good news for area residents as well, WISC-TV reported.

Lewis Frazer, of Janesville, got a job at Cardinal in February after losing a 10-year job at General Motors. Now he troubleshoots mechanical issues at the glass tempering-facility and is part of an industry of the future.

"I think they're off to a great start. I think we need a lot more solar technology in the state, to bring down the price so everybody else can afford it," said Frazer.

On Tuesday, the governor also gave Cardinal Glass a check for $500,000 in stimulus funds to help upgrade and expand its glass production plant in Portage.