Community solar generation has proven to be an effective way of providing consumers with affordable, renewably generated electricity and encouraging the co-location of supply and demand. Shifting and uncertain regulatory environments and the difficulties inherent in building new energy infrastructure within urban load basins, however, have troubled these efforts in California. This session explores the history of community solar initiatives, existing barriers to implementation, and promising future approaches to make community solar work in California through the experiences of the Bassett-Avocado Heights Advanced Energy Community (BAAEC) ‚ a CEC EPIC-funded demonstration project. BAAEC built 626KW of rooftop solar across two sites, in a disadvantaged community, aggregated to CAISO via both the IOU and CCA utilities. Our session is intended to provide attendees with an in-depth discussion of both policy and practical challenges facing community solar, insights to scale the community solar market in the State, as well as what value a community-centered approach can provide for low-income and disadvantaged ratepayers.