We don't have to wait for utilities or for-profit solar developers to expand solar power in our communities and, if we do it right, we can keep the dollars local. Activists from a small town in OR and the mid sized city Olympia,WA are spreading their successful models for community owned solar.  

Community solar is commonly defined as a system where subscribers in one place get bill credits from a shared solar project somewhere else, but most community solar in the US benefits corporations more than communities.  

A group of young people in Olympia WA figured out how to work around the state's lack of virtual net metering and install community funded solar on non-profit and community buildings. 

A retired scientist in Talent, OR organized the first participant owned community solar project in his state. Both groups are now working statewide on projects with partners including tribes, high schools, fire departments, county governments, and irrigation districts. 

Mason Rolph, Dan Orzech, and Ray Sanchez Pescador talk about how they got started,  overcoming obstacles, and why we don't have to wait for utilities, big investors, or politicians to expand solar access in our communities.