Outstanding Loans and Security Agreements - Recourse Debt Facilities Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
		Nov. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2020 USD ($) day $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 14, 2022	Jan. 01, 2021 USD ($)	May 01, 2020 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2017	Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt, current maturities				$ 26,023	$ 25,831
Unpaid Principal Balance				419,083	539,669
Accumulated deficit				(3,564,483)	(3,263,075)
Decrease in additional paid-in capital				3,906,491	3,219,081
Non-recourse debt	[1]			112,480	217,416
Contractual interest expense				$ 53,493	$ 69,025	$ 76,276
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate									10.25%
Redemption price, percentage				101.00%
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | On or after March 27, 2022
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Redemption price, percentage				108.00%
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | On or after March 27, 2023
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Redemption price, percentage				104.00%
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | On or after March 27, 2024
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Redemption price, percentage				102.00%
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | On or after March 27, 2026
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Redemption price, percentage				100.00%
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | Convertible debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity									$ 150,000
Current borrowing capacity									80,000
10.25% Senior Secured Notes due March 2027 | Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate				10.25%	10.25%
Debt face amount									$ 70,000
Secured long-term debt, noncurrent				$ 61,700	$ 48,900
Long-term debt, current maturities				12,716	8,348
Unpaid Principal Balance				$ 61,653	$ 70,000
Convertible Promissory Notes Interest Rate 6% Due December 2020, Recourse | Convertible debt | Affiliated entity
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate										6.00%
2.5% Green Convertible Senior Notes due August 2025 | Senior Secured Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate			2.50%	2.50%	2.50%
Long-term debt, current maturities				$ 0	$ 0
Unpaid Principal Balance			$ 230,000	$ 230,000	230,000
Debt instrument, unamortized discount			6,900
Debt other issuance costs, net			3,000
Proceeds from debt, net of issuance costs			$ 220,100
Threshold trading days | day			20
Threshold consecutive trading days | day			30
Convertible, conversion ratio				0.0616808
Contractual interest expense				$ 7,700	7,700	2,900
Amortization of debt issuance costs				$ 2,000	$ 2,000	$ 800
2.5% Green Convertible Senior Notes due August 2025 | Senior Secured Notes | Accounting Standards Update 2020-06
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Accumulated deficit								$ 5,300
Decrease in additional paid-in capital								126,800
Non-recourse debt								$ 121,500
2.5% Green Convertible Senior Notes due August 2025 | Senior Secured Notes | Class A Common Stock
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible stock price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 16.21
3.04% Senior Secured Notes due June 2031 | Senior Secured Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate					3.04%
3.04% Senior Secured Notes due June 2031 | Senior Secured Notes | PPA Company 3a
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate		3.04%
Unpaid Principal Balance		$ 109,100
Debt other issuance costs, net		2,100
Proceeds from debt, net of issuance costs		$ 6,700
7.5% Term Loan due September 2028 | Term loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate				7.50%	7.50%		7.50%
Long-term debt, current maturities					$ 3,436
Unpaid Principal Balance					$ 31,070
6.07% Senior Secured Notes due March 2030 | Senior Secured Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate				6.07%	6.07%
Long-term debt, current maturities					$ 4,671
Unpaid Principal Balance					$ 73,955
6.07% Senior Secured Notes due March 2030 | Senior Secured Notes | PPA Company 4
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest Rate											6.07%

[1] We have variable interest entities related to PPAs (see Note 11 - Portfolio Financings) and joint venture in the Republic of Korea (see Note 17 - SK ecoplant Strategic Investment), which represent a portion of the consolidated balances recorded within these financial statement line items in the consolidated balance sheets.