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Madison - It's far from the biggest solar system installed in Wisconsin, but Union Cab's 5-kilowatt project is unique: It's the first made-in-Wisconsin solar project.

The employee-owned taxi company was awarded $10,000 from the City of Madison's solar energy program toward the cost of installing the panels, which were connected to the power grid two weeks ago.

The project was created to highlight for Wisconsin residents how many state companies are participating in the solar energy sector, said Bryant Moroder of Sustainable Resource Group and the MadiSun program.

Dubbed the WisconSun Solar PV System, Union Cab's system includes solar panels made by Helios USA in Milwaukee as well as inverters from Ingeteam in Milwaukee.

Other state companies involved include Cardinal Solar Technologies in Spring Green, Luvata of Appleton, Performance Welding of Little Chute and SolaDeck of Eau Claire. H&H Solar installed the panels last month.

"I heard someone today say, 'I had no clue that we had this many of these companies in Wisconsin,' " Moroder said.

Kate Schachter, a member of the green team and board treasurer at Union Cab, said the co-op has been making sustainability improvements since 2008 to reduce its carbon footprint. In the last three years, Union has replaced all of its gasoline-powered passenger car sedans with a fleet of 38 Toyota Priuses.

That's saving Union $38,000 a month in gasoline, she said.

Getting involved in a locally produced solar project was exciting for Union.

"It's all about jobs, right?" Schachter said. "And it's all about what we can do in our state, and whatever job generation we can put together."

The MadiSun program is a sister program to the City of Milwaukee's Milwaukee Shines program. Both collaborated on the project.

Milwaukee Shines recently announced another buy local concept, the Milwaukee Power Pack. Through that initiative, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association is marketing panels made by Helios and inverters made by Ingeteam, both located in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley.

The goal is to encourage homeowners and businesses to take advantage of falling prices for solar panels and encourage them to buy local at the same time, said Amy Heart, who runs Milwaukee Shines. The Midwest Renewable Energy Association is also a partner in the initiative.

"What we do in Milwaukee is we make things, and we make things well," Heart said.

The program is looking for ways to boost the state's solar industry by launching a coalition - modeled on Wisconsin Wind Works for the wind industry - that is representing state solar suppliers at industry trade shows around the country, including one last week in Colorado, she said.