A SPECIALIST glass maker is preparing for its time to shine, after entering the solar energy market.

Romag, based near Consett, County Durham, is adding half a dozen staff on its Powerglaz range, a glass that turns the sun's rays into electricity.

It plans to cash in on laws that should make it mandatory to fit renewable energy systems in businesses and homes. The company, which listed on AIM in November 2003, last year spent £3.5m on the world's largest factory for producing Building-Integrated Photovoltaic solar panels.

It is also producing photovoltaic glass for the new bus station in Stanley, only five miles from its base on Leadgate Industrial Estate.

First half sales of Powerglaz exceeded £500,000. But its future will depend on whether the Government goes forward with its Energy White Paper.

Chief executive Lyn Miles said: "We don't know yet what the new ministers' views are."

Sales in its traditional business, which employs 150 staff and provides bullet and bombproof glass and toughened glass, rose 19 per cent in the past six months, to £7.1m, while pre-tax profits hit £429,000, up 37 per cent.