Since SolarCity is already a public company, they can use a short-form registration statement called an S-3. Information that is available in the company's othe

Since SolarCity is already a public company, they can use a short-form registration statement called an S-3. Information that is available in the company's other filings and can be incorporated by reference (the SEC's version of D.R.Y.). The costs are still higher than doing an unregistered offering, but are much lower than doing the company's first registered offering. Even though the article calls this "crowdfunding," this offering is not being conducted using the new JOBS Act crowdfunding provisions.