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Suntech-owned KSL-Kuttler Automation Systems GmbH, based in Dauchingen, Germany has announced 62 redundancies today following the news that the company will be redirecting its efforts towards the photovoltaics (PV) industry.

Swiss-based Oerlikon Solar, which makes amorphous-silicon manufacturing equipment, has cut its customers’ costs to “well under” USD$1 per watt today and is on track to reach its goal of 70 cents per watt by the end of the year, Chris O’Brien, head of market development and government relations told pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar North America.

Berkeley, California-based startup SolarNexus has told pv magazine at the Intersolar North America trade show that it is getting ready to launch a web-based software platform aimed at eliminating much of the paperwork that bogs down solar installers today.

As Intersolar North America drew to a close, analysts left the industry with upbeat forecasts for the solar market. “Things couldn’t be better in 2010,” Jefferies analyst Jesse Pichel told pv magazine.

Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc. has signed a contract to build a 0.5 megawatt (MW) solar power plant for Italian timber company Mirrione Francesco Legnami SRL, in Sicily. The company has also announced the opening of a new Southern California office in the U.S. to serve new and existing customers.

Eco Supplies Europe AB has successfully closed the acquisition of Gällivare Eco Supplies Europe AB, a Swedish producer of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. The company has also completed a fully subscribed capital increase of €1.8 million.

The U.S. should be looked at as a long-term growth market said Shayle Kann, a senior analyst at GTM Research, during a talk at Intersolar North America in San Francisco, the U.S. on Thursday. “It’s not a place where you can come and develop projects and make a killing quickly,” he stated.

Scheuten Solar has implemented three turnkey photovoltaics (PV) systems consisting of a total of 4,380 PV modules for Warehouses de Pauw (WDP). The systems have been installed at three different WDP warehouses in Vilvoorde, Aalst and Zele, Belgium.

China-based Baoding Tianwei Solar Films, Ltd. (Tianwei) has placed an upgrade order to increase its production capacity of thin film silicon solar modules from 46 megawatts (MW) amorphous technology to 75 MW Micromorph technology with Oerlikon Solar.

American mounting system manufacturer Sunlink has told pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar North America trade show that it has bought California-based Blue Oak PV Products. The company declined to disclose the amount. The acquisition means it can expand its equipment range for building solar energy arrays.