Offering bonds directly to consumers shows that solar power is becoming a more widely accepted investment. It also will give the company a cheaper source of capital.

“People in 50 states can invest and make money in this sector,” Chief Executive Officer Lyndon Rive said today in an interview.

The rates are lower than SolarCity’s earlier bond offerings that were sold through traditional debt markets. The company raised $201.5 million in July, with a 2022 maturity date and a 4.03 percent interest rate. In April it sold $70.2 million of debt at 4.59 percent.

“This is a good way for SolarCity to broaden the range of investors who are able to buy solar bonds, a new asset class,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James in Houston, said today in an e-mail.

SolarCity fell 3.5 percent to $47.93 at 10:30 a.m. in New York. The shares have declined 16 percent this year.

Copyright 2014 Bloomberg

Lead image: Solar panels via Shutterstock