Kardzhali Solar Module Plant Expects 200 Jobs, What Technicians and Engineers Should Know

VESS Modules opened its photovoltaic module plant in Kardzhali on 1 October 2026, and the headline number for electronics technicians, maintenance engineers and young people in the region is the 200 new jobs the plant is expected to create. That figure needs one careful reading. The plant is expected to provide work for 200 people once its capacity runs at full load, and full load is expected within two to three years. Production staff are expected to reach about 300 people at full production capacity, a figure the company gave to local media. Both figures are expectations, the 200 tied to full load and the 300 to full production capacity, not a list of vacancies posted on opening day.

For Metaintro readers in Bulgaria and across Europe, the useful questions are what kind of people a line with no manual operations along the whole production line still needs, which training areas the company has named, and how a technician or engineer can get ready. Here is what the primary pages show.

What Opened in Kardzhali on Thursday?

The plant was formally opened at a ceremony on Thursday. The ribbon was cut by Tsvetelina Borislavova, executive director of CSIF (the main investor in the project) and founder of VESS Modules, Deputy Economy Minister Krasimir Yakimov, regional governor Biser Nikolov, Kardzhali mayor Erol Mumun and National Assembly deputy speaker Ayten Sabri. The production site sits at 105 Belomorski Boulevard in Kardzhali.

The investment is 15 million euros, and the plant has an annual production capacity of 1 gigawatt. Borislavova called it the first fully automated photovoltaic module plant in the European Union, which is the company's own description.

The plant was built in less than two years, Borislavova said. At the ceremony, the company's executive director, Akser Shakir, received a quality certificate from TÜV SÜD, presented by the TÜV SÜD director for the China region.

Are the 200 Jobs Open Now, or Expected Later?

The 200 jobs are expected as the plant reaches full load. At full load of its capacity, the plant is expected to provide work for 200 people. Production capacity is expected to reach full load within two to three years.

The plant is described as providing close to 200 new jobs and as creating 200 new jobs. A higher figure comes from the company itself, with the number employed in production expected to reach about 300 people once full production capacity is reached.

That matters for how you plan. No hiring timetable is given for the two to three years of ramp-up, and the VESS Modules homepage lists products, services, a blog and an about page, with no careers section. The contact details listed there are a company email, a phone number and addresses in Sofia and Kardzhali.

What Does a Fully Automated Line Mean for the People Who Work There?

A new panel is set to be made roughly every 18 seconds, and the board chair, Lyubomir Gradev, put the production time for one panel at under 18 seconds. There are no manual operations along the whole production line, in Borislavova's description of the plant. Many plants were visited before the Kardzhali one was built, to learn and combine the best practices, Gradev said.

Borislavova's own explanation of why the plant was built that way is worth reading closely if you are a technician. It was not because the company does not believe in Bulgarian hands, but because those hands deserve to build, manage and invent the technologies of tomorrow rather than simply do work that machines can do for them (translated). Despite full automation, the new production is meant to provide 200 jobs.

The modules are to be made on modern automated flow lines with systems for precise control of the individual production stages, a description Economic.bg took from the company's website.

Workers today need fluency in automated systems, quality protocols, and data-driven maintenance, according to the InnoEnergy skills article.

Which Skills Does VESS Modules Plan to Train For?

VESS Modules is already in talks with vocational high schools in Kardzhali and is working on ways to prepare staff in areas such as programming, electronics and robotics.

Opportunities to train young people in areas such as electronics and robotics are also planned, as part of the effort to secure qualified specialists for high-tech production. Training of young people from the region is planned as well.

Local skills were part of why the plant is in Kardzhali. Borislavova stressed the production infrastructure already in Kardzhali and its local workforce, and that trained teams and accumulated know-how were among the factors in choosing the city.

If you are a student at a Kardzhali vocational school, or a parent of one, the practical step is to ask the school whether it is among those talking to the company. Those talks are already under way, and they are the training route the company itself has described.

What Do Operator and Engineer Roles on a Module Line Involve?

The VESS Modules homepage has no careers section or job descriptions. The European Solar Academy, one of the EU's Net-Zero Industry Academies, runs a programme organised around two core job profiles in PV module manufacturing.

• PV module manufacturing operators assemble PV modules using specialised equipment within a manufacturing line, ensuring quality, safety and efficient operations.
• PV module manufacturing engineers optimise and support PV module manufacturing processes, analysing performance and ensuring quality, automation and process reliability across a manufacturing line.

The operator profile covers skills such as module assembly line machinery and processes, occupational health and safety, and manufacturing equipment operation. The engineer profile covers continuous improvement, design for manufacturability, corrective and preventive action and quality management.

Modern PV module lines are highly automated, and workers need to manage complex systems, diagnose faults, and adapt to rapid technological change. VESS Modules has named areas such as programming, electronics and robotics for preparing staff.

How Can You Train for a Solar Module Manufacturing Job?

One structured option is the Solar Module Manufacturing Fundamentals programme from the European Solar Academy, developed in partnership with RCT Solutions. It is a six-course programme delivered online.

• Foundations. The first tier covers PV system components, assembly line setup and a 3D walkthrough of a manufacturing line, from glass loading through lamination, framing, testing and shipping.
• Operations and quality. The middle tier covers standard operating procedures, fault diagnosis, preventive maintenance and documentation systems.
• Engineering depth. The last tier covers module components, module design and future trends in solar cell and module technology.

The first four courses lead to PV Manufacturing Operator certification, and courses three to six lead to the engineer certification. Each course awards a micro-credential on successful assessment, issued as a European Digital Credential designed to travel across borders. The overlap of courses three and four means that an operator who completes the full programme can progress to engineer certification without repeating coursework. Each course is also self-contained and stackable.

The programme targets learners with engineering and technical backgrounds. Equipment-specific skills, such as operating particular machinery, are expected to be developed on site, so an online course is a starting point and not a replacement for training on the line itself.

Who Is Behind VESS Modules, and What Does It Make?

The main investor is CSIF, whose executive director, Tsvetelina Borislavova, is also the founder of VESS Modules. VESS Modules is part of the Clever Synergy Investment Fund. The company describes itself as a maker of high-efficiency N-type photovoltaic modules, and its product line includes Oslar, a TOPCon module.

Beyond manufacturing, the company also offers design, maintenance, repair and recycling of solar systems. If your background is in maintenance or electrical repair, that side of the business is worth a look too.

Where Will the Panels Go, and How Big Could the Plant Get?

The plant is set to serve both the European market and third countries. Interest has already been declared by Turkish companies, clients from African states and clients from the United States, Borislavova said at the opening. Borislavova said the company expects the modules to be competitive in price and quality with those of the large Asian producers, and she named a shorter delivery time to European customers as the advantage of making them in Europe.

Growth is the other signal. Production starts at around 1 gigawatt a year, with a long-term goal of 2 to 3 gigawatts by 2029. The same 2029 goal of 2 to 3 GW of production capacity appears on the company homepage, and the company plans to expand it to 3 gigawatts in the coming years. That is a capacity goal, not a jobs figure.

Why Does a Plant Like This Matter for Europe's Solar Workforce?

Manufacturing is a small share of solar work in Europe. In 2024, solar PV manufacturing supported 40,902 direct and indirect jobs in Europe, which is less than 5% of the 865,312 jobs the solar industry supports overall, according to SolarPower Europe's EU Solar Jobs Report 2025 data as cited by InnoEnergy.

The EU solar workforce reached a record 865,000 jobs in 2024, and SolarPower Europe's October 2025 report expected it to fall by 5% to around 825,000 jobs in 2025, partly because of a manufacturing sector at risk amid global competitiveness challenges.

EU leaders have the opportunity to reverse course, stabilise the market, support EU solar manufacturers, and strengthen its skills strategy, Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said in October 2025, according to the SolarPower Europe release.

The Net-Zero Industry Act aims for the EU's manufacturing capacity in strategic net-zero technologies to approach or reach at least 40% of annual deployment needs by 2030, and solar photovoltaic is on its list of key technologies. The act also sets up Net-Zero Industry Academies to provide training on these technologies.

At the ceremony, Yakimov said Bulgaria cannot and should not be only a market for the technologies of the future, and that the government is working for Bulgaria to become the place where these technologies are made (translated).

What Does the Plant Mean for Kardzhali?

The mayor tied the new jobs to keeping young people in the region. Mumun said the 200 people who will work in ultra-modern European conditions mean 200 families who will have the chance to stay here (translated). He also described the jobs as work in European conditions, with good pay, held by people who will not emigrate and will stay here in our municipality (translated).

The governor called the site the largest in Europe in his welcome to the investor. Borislavova said the plant was built not where it was easiest, but where it was most needed.

At full production, Kardzhali has the potential to become a significant centre for photovoltaic module production, not only in Bulgaria but on the European market, the mayor said (translated). Yakimov stressed that such investments should be directed to the regions of the country to provide lasting employment, and that the 200 new jobs in Kardzhali mean higher incomes for families in the region (translated).

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

The 200 figure is tied to full load, and full load is expected within two to three years. The company's own expectation of about 300 production staff at full capacity is higher, so the final headcount is not settled. Nobody should treat this as a fixed number of vacancies to apply for this month. The better way to treat it is as a signal of what a modern European module factory wants from people, and that signal is specific. The company named areas such as programming, electronics and robotics. The European Solar Academy names fault diagnosis, preventive maintenance and quality management.

If you already work as an electrician, a maintenance technician or a PLC programmer, your skills overlap with the programming, electronics and robotics areas the company has named. Controls work is the core of a PLC technician career, and fault finding and quality checks belong near the top of a CV, next to the other manufacturing resume skills you hold.

Here is what we would do:

• Write to the company directly. The VESS Modules homepage lists a general contact email and no careers section, so a short note with your CV is one way to reach the company.
• Ask your vocational school. The company is in talks with vocational high schools in Kardzhali, so students should ask whether their school is one of them.
• Work toward a credential. The Solar Module Manufacturing Fundamentals courses lead to operator or engineer certification, and each course awards a European Digital Credential on successful assessment.
• Lead with automation, not assembly. On a line with no manual operations, put fault finding, machine uptime and quality checks at the top of your CV.
• Watch the ramp-up. Capacity is planned to grow to 2 to 3 gigawatts by 2029, so check back on the company site as production builds.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many jobs will the VESS Modules plant in Kardzhali create?

A: The plant is expected to provide work for 200 people once it runs at full load, and full load is expected within two to three years. Production staff are expected to reach about 300 at full capacity, a figure the company gave to local media.

Q: Is the Kardzhali solar plant really fully automated?

A: The company describes it as the first fully automated photovoltaic module plant in the European Union, with no manual operations along the whole production line.

Q: How can I apply for a job at VESS Modules?

A: The company homepage has no careers section, so the company can be reached through the general contact email listed by VESS Modules. Students can also ask whether their school is among the vocational high schools in Kardzhali in talks with the company.

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