Entrepreneurship and the adoption of solar technology as drivers of urban energy transitions in peri-urban areas

Urban energy transition requires understanding how social and productive dynamics influence technological adoption, especially in peri-urban areas characterized by informal economies and diverse productive vocations. The objective of this study is to identify profiles of entrepreneurship and energy use to guide strategies for adopting decentralized solar technologies. A mixed-design field study was conducted based on a structured survey applied to 100 entrepreneurs from a peri-urban community in Mexico. Eleven indicators derived from participatory workshops were constructed and coded as mixed variables through inductive preprocessing techniques. The data were analyzed using the k-means algorithm and visualized through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify socio-energetic and vocational patterns. The analysis identified three differentiated profiles: (1) new entrepreneurs with solar potential, (2) intermediate entrepreneurs with growing adoption, and (3) consolidated entrepreneurs with high solar integration. The clusters show substantial differences in entrepreneurial experience, solar adoption, perceived relevance of energy, productive vocations, and support networks. PCA revealed three dimensions that structure technological adoption: entrepreneurial maturity, productive vocations, and capacities and support networks, which together explain most of the variability. The socio-energetic profiles show that solar adoption in peri-urban areas depends as much on social and organizational factors as on technical criteria. The proposed methodology offers a replicable framework for designing differentiated urban energy-transition strategies grounded in community participation, energy citizenship, and supportive policies to strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems.