For Doña Valentina , who owns a neighborhood convenience store in Pachuca, Mexico, the reality of running a successful venture is a delicate balancing act.

She works hard to keep her shelves stocked, her customers satisfied, and her family afloat with the income she earns selling sodas and snacks to her community. When her bills arrive monthly, she opens them with the hope that sales outpace expenses — and there’s one, in particular, she anticipates most.

“Energy expenses have indeed been our headache,” Valentina said. “It’s what worries us the most because sometimes the electricity bill is much more expensive than the rent.”

Steep electricity prices are a familiar burden to Mexico’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which make up over 99 percent of all businesses in the country. Exacerbated by unreliable grid infrastructure, power outages are common and disrupt daily operations for many mom-and-pop businesses. When margins are tight, even short outages can have sizable repercussions, with perishable goods — like the ones Valentina sells — spoiling on shelves.

Today, over 60 percent of Mexico’s electricity is generated from natural gas, which is subject to price fluctuations in international gas prices. Alternative green technologies, like solar power, are often beyond the reach of small-scale businesses, with hefty upfront costs and daunting installation and maintenance needs.

Solfium, an Accion partner, is working to change this reality for Valentina and entrepreneurs like her, by lowering the barriers to connect MSMEs to clean, renewable energy. Through its embedded finance solution, Solfium simplifies the process by offering an integrated platform that provides financing, installation, and ongoing support.

Solfium makes solar adoption cost-effective by partnering with financial institutions, where expenses can be spread out over years. Access to affordable financing options tailored to the unique challenges of small business owners is a critical step for building longer-term economic — and climate — resilience.

“Today, I’m saving 5,000 pesos ($280) on my monthly electricity bill after the solar panel installation,” said Valentina, who used Solfium’s financing options to install solar panels on her building’s roof.

And she’s not alone. Don Bernardo owns a similar corner store in Pachuca, Mexico, where he’s lived for 21 years and built his business “La Primavera” from scratch. In connecting with Solfium, he’s enjoying similar cost savings.

“When we received our first bill after the panels were installed, we couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Before, we paid up to 5,500 pesos ($300), and now we only pay 150 ($8).” That’s an over 95% decrease in monthly costs — and with the money saved, Don Bernardo has expanded his stores’ product offerings with items he previously couldn’t afford.

And for Don Enrique, owner of “Abarrotes y Cremería Larita” grocery store, solar has not only made his business environmentally sustainable, but given him a competitive edge. “By using solar energy from Solfium, I have colder products,” he said, noting that many of his customers remarked on the change.

Since 2022, Solfium has installed over 36,000 solar panels, translating to $28 million saved by Solfium’s customers and electricity consumers. That’s money reinvested into their businesses, local economies, and families, building both climate and economic resilience at the foundation of Mexico’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Clean energy shouldn’t be a privilege,” said Andres Friedman, CEO and Co-founder of Solfium. “Our mission is to make solar energy accessible to every business in Mexico — from global corporations to local entrepreneurs.”