Balance Sheet Components (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jul. 01, 2012

Balance Sheet Related Disclosures [Abstract]

Accounts Receivable Trade [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	July 1, 2012			January 1, 2012
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, gross	$	296,934		$	468,320
Less: allowance for doubtful accounts	(20,052		)	(21,039		)
Less: allowance for sales returns	(3,910		)	(8,648		)
	$	272,972		$	438,633

Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block]

Inventories:
Raw materials	$	77,000	$	78,050
Work-in-process	105,271		79,397
Finished goods	267,679		288,054
	$	449,950	$	445,501

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

Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
VAT receivables, current portion	$	98,096	$	68,993
Foreign currency derivatives	13,095		34,422
Income tax receivable	3,647		19,541
Deferred project costs	324,378		183,789
Other current assets	24,985		20,006
Other receivables (1)	98,258		146,135
Other prepaid expenses	33,799		29,993
	$	596,258	$	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	$	61,850	$	31,469
Project assets — land	36,702		27,388
	$	98,552	$	58,857
Project assets - plants and land, current portion	$	82,929	$	24,243
Project assets - plants and land, net of current portion	$	15,623	$	34,614

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Property, plant and equipment, net:
Land and buildings	$	18,979		$	13,912
Leasehold improvements	219,882			244,913
Manufacturing equipment (2)	557,770			625,019
Computer equipment	73,010			69,694
Solar power systems	97,274			18,631
Furniture and fixtures	7,270			7,172
Construction-in-process	39,843			46,762
	1,014,028			1,026,103
Less: accumulated depreciation (3)	(363,748		)	(397,334		)
	$	650,280		$	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 $176.9 million and $196.6 million as of July 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 $18.6 million and $21.1 million as of July 1, 2012 and January 1, 2012, respectively.

(3) Total depreciation expense was $29.3 million and $58.4 million for the three and six months ended July 1, 2012, respectively and $28.0 million and $53.7 million for the three and six months ended July 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)	July 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Property, plant and equipment, net by geography (4):
Philippines	$	410,099	$	490,074
United States	176,208		93,436
Mexico	32,065		21,686
Europe	29,440		20,830
Other	2,468		2,743
	$	650,280	$	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 and six months ended July 1, 2012 and July 3, 2011, respectively.

	Three Months Ended						Six Months Ended
(In thousands)	July 1, 2012			July 3, 2011			July 1, 2012			July 3, 2011
Interest expense:
Interest cost incurred	$	(20,356	)	$	(17,652	)	$	(39,987	)	$	(34,103	)
Cash interest cost capitalized - property, plant and equipment	299			555			587			885
Non-cash interest cost capitalized - property, plant and equipment	169			472			302			721
Cash interest cost capitalized - project assets - plant and land	271			242			549			606
Non-cash interest cost capitalized - project assets - plant and land	217			324			448			573
Interest expense	$	(19,400	)	$	(16,059	)	$	(38,101	)	$	(31,318	)

Schedule of Other Assets, Noncurrent [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	July 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Other long-term assets:
Investments in joint ventures	$	106,702	$	129,929
Bond hedge derivative	2,467		840
Investments in non-public companies	14,918		4,918
VAT receivables, net of current portion	—		6,020
Long-term debt issuance costs	54,846		10,734
Other	56,236		24,380
	$	235,169	$	176,821

Schedule of Accrued Liabilities [Table Text Block]

	As of
(In thousands)	July 1, 2012		January 1, 2012
Accrued liabilities:
VAT payables	$	4,344	$	47,034
Foreign currency derivatives	2,770		14,935
Short-term warranty reserves	12,085		15,034
Interest payable	8,406		7,288
Deferred revenue	14,514		48,115
Employee compensation and employee benefits	31,670		35,375
Other	93,053		81,623
	$	166,842	$	249,404
Other long-term liabilities:
Embedded conversion option derivatives	$	2,467	$	844
Long-term warranty reserves	92,354		79,289
Unrecognized tax benefits	32,043		29,256
Other	98,772		56,737
	$	225,636	$	166,126

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

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):
Cumulative translation adjustment	$	(3,310	)	$	(1,360	)
Net unrealized gain on derivatives	2,346			10,473
Deferred taxes	(445		)	(1,971		)
	$	(1,409	)	$	7,142