Revenue Recognition - Cumulative Effect of Changes on Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2019		Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Jan. 01, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018		Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 202,823	[1]	$ 226,499	$ 308,009	$ 320,414	$ 220,728	$ 220,728	[1]	$ 395,516	$ 91,596	$ 88,227
Restricted cash, current		30,804	[1]	14,486	23,706	18,419	28,657	28,657	[1]	17,931	25,860	22,998
Short-term investments		0					104,350	104,350		4,494	15,703	20,138
Accounts receivable		37,828	[1]	26,353	40,038	85,647	89,779	88,784	[1]	45,261	40,442	61,996
Inventories		109,606		132,607	106,889	119,871	135,265	135,265		137,778	129,284	94,032
Deferred cost of revenue		58,470		41,042	80,307	52,911	43,809	43,809		45,183	35,654	43,415
Customer financing receivable		5,108	[1]	5,919	5,817	5,717	5,594	5,594	[1]	5,496	5,398	5,303
Prepaid expense and other current assets		28,068	[1]	28,642	26,483	30,073	36,887	36,747	[1]	36,499	24,820	28,944
Total current assets		472,707		475,548	591,249	633,052	665,069	663,934		688,158	368,757	365,053
Property, plant and equipment, net		607,059	[1]	627,385	641,259	711,631	716,751	716,751	[1]	698,123	697,344	702,228
Customer financing receivable, non-current		50,747	[1]	62,615	64,146	65,620	67,082	67,082	[1]	68,535	69,963	71,337
Restricted cash, non-current		143,761	[1]	116,890	39,351	31,101	31,100	31,100	[1]	30,779	32,416	32,367
Deferred cost of revenue, non-current		6,665		3,724	3,846	1,933	45	45		45	60	53
Other long-term assets		41,652	[1]	70,951	72,836	45,447	45,354	42,882	[1]	44,397	45,241	43,179
Total assets		1,322,591		1,357,113	1,412,687	1,488,784	1,525,401	1,521,794		1,530,037	1,213,781	1,214,217
Accounts payable		55,579	[1]	81,060	61,427	64,425	66,889	66,889	[1]	59,818	53,798	47,755
Accrued warranty		10,333		12,862	10,240	14,237	16,936	17,968		17,312	14,287	16,394
Accrued other current liabilities		70,284	[1]	79,616	105,393	64,073	66,838	66,838	[1]	63,986	49,932	53,654
Deferred managed services revenue		416		10,420	10,027	8,819		1,421		7,780	6,792	6,556
Financing obligations		10,993		77,551	118,738	75,069	8,128	8,128		72,738	66,054	71,486
Deferred revenue and customer deposits	[1]	89,192					72,285	67,632
Current portion of recourse debt		304,627		15,678	15,681	15,683	8,686	8,686		1,686	10,351	6,017
Current portion of non-recourse debt		8,273	[1]	7,983	7,654	19,486	18,962	18,962	[1]	18,499	18,025	17,583
Current portion of recourse debt from related parties		20,801						0
Current portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		3,882	[1]	3,500	2,889	2,341	2,200	2,200	[1]	1,737	1,630	1,525
Total current liabilities		573,964		288,670	332,049	264,133	260,924	257,303		243,556	220,869	220,970
Derivative liabilities		17,551	[1]	20,284	18,175	15,722	14,143	14,143	[1]	13,658	192,416	168,071
Deferred revenue and customer deposits, net of current portion		125,529	[1]	122,276	110,750	103,751	105,290	87,308	[1]	89,204	88,630	89,501
Managed services liabilities		446,200						385,600
Financing obligations, non-current		446,165		397,272	400,078	394,037	385,650	385,650		375,254	356,727	321,682
Long-term portion of recourse debt		75,962		359,959	362,424	357,876	360,339	360,339		358,363	524,934	517,483
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt		192,180	[1]	217,334	219,182	284,541	289,241	289,241	[1]	293,593	298,048	302,345
Long-term portion of recourse debt from related parties		0		27,734	27,734	27,734	27,734	27,734		32,168	72,087	70,202
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		31,087	[1]	31,781	32,643	33,417	34,119	34,119	[1]	34,765	35,054	35,312
Other long-term liabilities		28,013		28,852	29,979	28,970	26,196	26,196		18,437	21,564	21,753
Total liabilities		1,490,451		1,494,162	1,533,014	1,510,181	1,503,636	1,482,033		1,458,998	1,812,698	1,753,873
Redeemable noncontrolling interest		443		557	505	58,802	57,261	57,261		56,446	54,940	58,176
Common stock: $0.0001 par value; Class A shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 84,549,511 shares and 20,868,286 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively; Class B shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 36,486,778 shares and 88,552,897 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.		12		12	11	11	11	11		11	1	1
Additional paid-in capital		2,686,759		2,647,874	2,604,034	2,552,011	2,481,352	2,481,352		2,388,116	166,805	158,605
Accumulated other comprehensive income		19		(147)	(148)	5	131	131		272	217	117
Accumulated deficit		(2,946,384)		(2,880,551)	(2,828,801)	(2,746,890)	(2,642,100)	(2,624,104)		(2,508,655)	(2,428,154)	(2,372,155)
Total stockholders’ deficit		(259,594)		(232,812)	(224,904)	(194,863)	(160,606)	(142,610)		(120,256)	(2,261,131)	(2,213,432)
Noncontrolling interest		91,291		95,206	104,072	114,664	125,110	125,110		134,849	141,433	149,759
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, stockholders' deficit and noncontrolling interest		1,322,591		1,357,113	1,412,687	1,488,784	$ 1,525,401	1,521,794		$ 1,530,037	$ 1,213,781	$ 1,214,217
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents				0	0	0
Restricted cash, current				0	0	0
Accounts receivable				(4,600)	(2,430)	(2,418)
Inventories				0	0	0
Deferred cost of revenue				0	0	0
Customer financing receivable				0	0	0
Prepaid expense and other current assets				173	143	129
Total current assets				(4,427)	(2,287)	(2,289)
Property, plant and equipment, net				0	0	0
Customer financing receivable, non-current				0	0	0
Restricted cash, non-current				0	0	0
Deferred cost of revenue, non-current				0	0	0
Other long-term assets				3,232	2,743	2,575
Total assets				(1,195)	456	286
Accounts payable				0	0	0
Accrued warranty				(1,274)	(999)	(1,280)
Accrued other current liabilities				0	0	0
Deferred managed services revenue				0	0	0
Financing obligations				3,347	3,264	1,665
Current portion of recourse debt				0	0	0
Current portion of non-recourse debt				0	0	0
Current portion of non-recourse debt from related parties				0	0	0
Total current liabilities				2,073	2,265	385
Derivative liabilities				0	0	0
Deferred revenue and customer deposits, net of current portion				34,954	25,369	17,320
Financing obligations, non-current				0	0	0
Long-term portion of recourse debt				0	0	0
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt				0	0	0
Long-term portion of recourse debt from related parties				0	0	0
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt from related parties				0	0	0
Other long-term liabilities				(1)	0	0
Total liabilities				37,026	27,634	17,705
Redeemable noncontrolling interest				0	0	0
Common stock: $0.0001 par value; Class A shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 84,549,511 shares and 20,868,286 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively; Class B shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 36,486,778 shares and 88,552,897 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.				0	0	0
Additional paid-in capital				0	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive income				0	0	0
Accumulated deficit				(38,221)	(27,178)	(17,419)
Total stockholders’ deficit				(38,221)	(27,178)	(17,419)
Noncontrolling interest				0	0	0
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, stockholders' deficit and noncontrolling interest				(1,195)	456	286
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		0						0
Restricted cash, current		0						0
Short-term investments								0
Accounts receivable		(9,614)						995
Inventories		0						0
Deferred cost of revenue		0						0
Customer financing receivable		0						0
Prepaid expense and other current assets		208						140
Total current assets		(9,406)						1,135
Property, plant and equipment, net		0						0
Customer financing receivable, non-current		0						0
Restricted cash, non-current		0						0
Deferred cost of revenue, non-current		0						0
Other long-term assets		3,803						2,472
Total assets		(5,603)						3,607
Accounts payable		0						0
Accrued warranty		(1,619)						(1,032)
Accrued other current liabilities		0						0
Financing obligations		0						0
Deferred revenue and customer deposits	[1]	(883)						4,653
Current portion of recourse debt		0						0
Current portion of non-recourse debt		0						0
Current portion of recourse debt from related parties		0
Current portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		0						0
Total current liabilities		(2,502)						3,621
Derivative liabilities		0						0
Deferred revenue and customer deposits, net of current portion		40,935						17,982
Financing obligations, non-current		0						0
Long-term portion of recourse debt		0						0
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt		0						0
Long-term portion of recourse debt from related parties								0
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		0						0
Other long-term liabilities		0						0
Total liabilities		38,433						21,603
Redeemable noncontrolling interest		0						0
Common stock: $0.0001 par value; Class A shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 84,549,511 shares and 20,868,286 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively; Class B shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 36,486,778 shares and 88,552,897 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.		0						0
Additional paid-in capital		0						0
Accumulated other comprehensive income		0						0
Accumulated deficit		(44,036)						(17,996)
Total stockholders’ deficit		(44,036)						(17,996)
Noncontrolling interest		0						0
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, stockholders' deficit and noncontrolling interest		(5,603)						3,607
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		202,823		226,499	308,009	320,414		220,728
Restricted cash, current		30,804		14,486	23,706	18,419		28,657
Short-term investments								104,350
Accounts receivable		47,442		30,953	42,468	88,065		88,784
Inventories		109,606		132,607	106,889	119,871		135,265
Deferred cost of revenue		58,470		41,042	80,307	52,911		43,809
Customer financing receivable		5,108		5,919	5,817	5,717		5,594
Prepaid expense and other current assets		27,860		28,469	26,340	29,944		36,747
Total current assets		482,113		479,975	593,536	635,341		663,934
Property, plant and equipment, net		607,059		627,385	641,259	711,631		716,751
Customer financing receivable, non-current		50,747		62,615	64,146	65,620		67,082
Restricted cash, non-current		143,761		116,890	39,351	31,101		31,100
Deferred cost of revenue, non-current		6,665		3,724	3,846	1,933		45
Other long-term assets		37,849		67,719	70,093	42,872		42,882
Total assets		1,328,194		1,358,308	1,412,231	1,488,498		1,521,794
Accounts payable		55,579		81,060	61,427	64,425		66,889
Accrued warranty		11,952		14,136	11,239	15,517		17,968
Accrued other current liabilities		70,284		79,616	105,393	64,073		66,838
Deferred managed services revenue				10,420	10,027	8,819
Financing obligations		10,993		74,204	115,474	73,404		8,128
Deferred revenue and customer deposits	[1]	90,075						67,632
Current portion of recourse debt		304,627		15,678	15,681	15,683		8,686
Current portion of non-recourse debt		8,273		7,983	7,654	19,486		18,962
Current portion of recourse debt from related parties		20,801
Current portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		3,882		3,500	2,889	2,341		2,200
Total current liabilities		576,466		286,597	329,784	263,748		257,303
Derivative liabilities		17,551		20,284	18,175	15,722		14,143
Deferred revenue and customer deposits, net of current portion		84,594		87,322	85,381	86,431		87,308
Financing obligations, non-current		446,165		397,272	400,078	394,037		385,650
Long-term portion of recourse debt		75,962		359,959	362,424	357,876		360,339
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt		192,180		217,334	219,182	284,541		289,241
Long-term portion of recourse debt from related parties				27,734	27,734	27,734		27,734
Long-term portion of non-recourse debt from related parties		31,087		31,781	32,643	33,417		34,119
Other long-term liabilities		28,013		28,853	29,979	28,970		26,196
Total liabilities		1,452,018		1,457,136	1,505,380	1,492,476		1,482,033
Redeemable noncontrolling interest				557	505	58,802		57,261
Common stock: $0.0001 par value; Class A shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 84,549,511 shares and 20,868,286 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively; Class B shares, 600,000,000 shares authorized at both December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 36,486,778 shares and 88,552,897 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.		12		12	11	11		11
Additional paid-in capital		2,686,759		2,647,874	2,604,034	2,552,011		2,481,352
Accumulated other comprehensive income		19		(147)	(148)	5		131
Accumulated deficit		(2,902,348)		(2,842,330)	(2,801,623)	(2,729,471)		(2,624,104)
Total stockholders’ deficit		(215,558)		(194,591)	(197,726)	(177,444)		(142,610)
Noncontrolling interest		91,291		95,206	104,072	114,664		125,110
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, stockholders' deficit and noncontrolling interest		$ 1,328,194		$ 1,358,308	$ 1,412,231	$ 1,488,498		$ 1,521,794
Common Class A and B
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)		$ 0.0001						$ 0.0001

[1] We have variable interest entities which represent a portion of the consolidated balances are recorded within these financial statement line items in the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 13, Power Purchase Agreement Programs).