Balance Sheet Components (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Apr. 01, 2012

Balance Sheet Related Disclosures [Abstract]

Accounts Receivable Trade [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	April 1, 2012			January 1, 2012
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, gross	$	381,056		$	468,320
Less: allowance for doubtful accounts	(25,159		)	(21,039		)
Less: allowance for sales returns	(7,829		)	(8,648		)
	$	348,068		$	438,633

Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block]

Inventories:
Raw materials	$	89,363	$	78,050
Work-in-process	100,963		79,397
Finished goods	325,580		288,054
	$	515,906	$	445,501

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Table Text Block]

Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
VAT receivables, current portion	$	101,513	$	68,993
Foreign currency derivatives	10,995		34,422
Income tax receivable	12,408		19,541
Deferred project costs	262,741		183,789
Other current assets	27,278		20,006
Other receivables (1)	109,755		146,135
Other prepaid expenses	36,736		29,993
	$	561,426	$	502,879

(1) Includes tolling agreements with suppliers in which the Company provides polysilicon required for silicon ingot manufacturing and procures the manufactured silicon ingots from the suppliers (see Notes 8 and 9).

Investments In Power And Distribution Projects [Table Text Block]

Project assets - plants and land:
Project assets — plants	$	93,455	$	31,469
Project assets — land	4,661		27,388
	$	98,116	$	58,857
Project assets - plants and land, current portion	$	57,130	$	24,243
Project assets - plants and land, net of current portion	$	40,986	$	34,614

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Property, plant and equipment, net:
Land and buildings	$	13,912		$	13,912
Leasehold improvements	250,745			244,913
Manufacturing equipment (2)	651,207			625,019
Computer equipment	73,382			69,694
Solar power systems	42,829			18,631
Furniture and fixtures	7,668			7,172
Construction-in-process	39,020			46,762
	1,078,763			1,026,103
Less: accumulated depreciation (3)	(426,883		)	(397,334		)
	$	651,880		$	628,769

(2) The Company's mortgage loan agreement with International Finance Corporation ("IFC") is collateralized by certain manufacturing equipment with a net book value of $187.3 million and $196.6 million as of April 1, 2012 and January 1, 2012, respectively. The Company also provided security for advance payments received from a third party in fiscal 2008 in the form of collateralized manufacturing equipment with a net book value of $19.8 million and $21.1 million as of April 1, 2012 and January 1, 2012, respectively.

(3) Total depreciation expense was $29.1 million and $25.7 million for the three months ended April 1, 2012 and April 3, 2011, respectively.

Schedule of Disclosure on Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets in Individual Foreign Countries by Country [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	April 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Property, plant and equipment, net by geography (4):
Philippines	$	472,102	$	490,074
United States	123,287		93,436
Mexico	31,386		21,686
Europe	22,382		20,830
Other	2,723		2,743
	$	651,880	$	628,769

(4) Property, plant and equipment, net are based on the physical location of the assets.

Interest expense [Table Text Block]

The below table presents the cash and non-cash interest expense capitalized to property, plant and equipment and project assets during the three months ended April 1, 2012 and April 3, 2011, respectively.

	Three Months Ended
(In thousands)	April 1, 2012			April 3, 2011
Interest expense:
Interest cost incurred	$	(19,631	)	$	(16,451	)
Cash interest cost capitalized - property, plant and equipment	288			330
Non-cash interest cost capitalized - property, plant and equipment	133			249
Cash interest cost capitalized - project assets - plant and land	278			364
Non-cash interest cost capitalized - project assets - plant and land	231			249
Interest expense	$	(18,701	)	$	(15,259	)

Schedule of Other Assets, Noncurrent [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	April 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Other long-term assets:
Investments in joint ventures	$	112,532	$	129,929
Bond hedge derivative	2,425		840
Investments in non-public companies	4,918		4,918
VAT receivables, net of current portion	6,207		6,020
Long-term debt issuance costs	59,973		10,734
Other	41,157		24,380
	$	227,212	$	176,821

Schedule of Accrued Liabilities [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	April 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Accrued liabilities:
VAT payables	$	9,233	$	47,034
Foreign currency derivatives	7,349		14,935
Short-term warranty reserves	14,983		15,034
Interest payable	7,455		7,288
Deferred revenue	18,326		48,115
Employee compensation and employee benefits	33,293		35,375
Other	98,689		81,623
	$	189,328	$	249,404
Other long-term liabilities:
Embedded conversion option derivatives	$	2,416	$	844
Long-term warranty reserves	87,856		79,289
Unrecognized tax benefits	29,815		29,256
Other	80,260		56,737
	$	200,347	$	166,126

Schedule of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Table Text Block]

Accumulated other comprehensive income:
Cumulative translation adjustment	$	4,638		$	(1,360	)
Net unrealized gain on derivatives	4,723			10,473
Deferred taxes	(891		)	(1,971		)
	$	8,470		$	7,142