Class of Warrant or Right, Term

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- Definition

credit support agreement

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- Definition

Refundable consideration, usually cash, held by the entity pending satisfactory completion of the entity's obligations or pending the closing of a contract (Related Party)

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Customer advances paid upon execution

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- Definition

guarantor commitment fee

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- Definition

guaranty fee percentage

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- Definition

Limitations on transfer of outstanding shares

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- Definition

Liquidity Support Facility, Warrant, Maximum Ownership Percentage Allowed

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- Definition

Liquidity Support Facility, Warrant, Minimum Amount of Outstanding Convertible Debt Required to be Outstanding

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- Definition

For an unclassified balance sheet, amount of receivables arising from transactions with related parties.

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Liability attributable to (i) billings in excess of costs under the percentage of completion contract accounting method representing the difference between contractually invoiced amounts (billings) and revenue recognized based, for example, on costs incurred to estimated total costs at period end or (ii) contractually invoiced amounts (billings) in excess of costs incurred and accumulated under the completed contract accounting method that are expected to be realized within one year or one operating cycle, whichever is longer, from the reporting date.

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- Definition

Percentage of voting equity interests acquired at the acquisition date in the business combination.

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Exercise price per share or per unit of warrants or rights outstanding.

+ References

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Number of securities into which each warrant or right may be converted. For example, but not limited to, each warrant may be converted into two shares.

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No definition available.

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Refundable consideration, usually cash, held by the entity pending satisfactory completion of the entity's obligations or pending the closing of a contract.

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The current portion of prepayments received from customers for goods or services to be provided in the future.

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The noncurrent portion of prepayments received from customers for goods or services to be provided in the future.

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The price per share of the conversion feature embedded in the debt instrument.

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- Definition

The number of equity instruments that the holder of the debt instrument would receive if the debt was converted to equity.

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- Definition

Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

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- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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For an unclassified balance sheet, amounts due from related parties including affiliates, employees, joint ventures, officers and stockholders, immediate families thereof, and pension funds.

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Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of an equity method investment.

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Amount of interest expense incurred on a debt or other obligation to related party.

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Amount of investments, and noncurrent assets classified as other.

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Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

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Cash received from collaborators during the current period.

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Direct costs arising from transactions with related parties who are not affiliates or joint Ventures. These costs are categorized as cost of goods sold.

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Receivables to be collected from (obligations owed to) related parties, net as of the balance sheet date where one party can exercise control or significant influence over another party; including affiliates, owners or officers and their immediate families, pension trusts, and so forth.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Amount of revenue, fees and commissions earned from transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiaries; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) an entity and trusts for the benefit of employees, for example, but not limited to, pension and profit-sharing trusts that are managed by or under the trusteeship of the entity's management; (d) an entity and its principal, owners, management, or members of their immediate families; and (e) affiliates.

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Amount of consideration received by subsidiary or equity investee in exchange for shares of stock issued or sold. Includes amount of cash received, fair value of noncash assets received, and fair value of liabilities assumed by the investor.

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The number of shares issued or sold by the subsidiary or equity method investee per stock transaction.

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Percentage of subsidiary's or equity investee's stock owned by parent company after stock transaction.

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Per share amount received by subsidiary or equity investee for each share of common stock issued or sold in the stock transaction.

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Transactions with Total and Total S.A. (Details)	1 Months Ended							3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
Transactions with Total and Total S.A. (Details)	Mar. 31, 2018	Jan. 03, 2016 USD ($) shares $ / shares	Jun. 29, 2014 USD ($) shares $ / shares	May 31, 2013 USD ($) shares $ / shares	Feb. 28, 2012 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2011 $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($) $ / shares	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 03, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 $ / shares
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Customer Advances and Deposits, Related Party								$ 0		$ 0			$ 175,000
Customer Advances, Current													0
Customer Advances, Noncurrent													0
Debt instrument, face value								1,358,224,000		1,358,224,000			1,621,766,000
Contract liabilities, current portion1													0
Accounts receivable								0		0			1,275,000
Other2								$ 62,286,000		62,286,000			60,858,000
Equity Method Investment, Realized Gain (Loss) on Disposal										$ (50,025,000)	$ 0
0.75% debentures due 2018 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate				0.75%				0.75%		0.75%
Debt instrument, face value				$ 300,000,000.0				$ 0		$ 0			300,000,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price \| $ / shares				$ 24.95											$ 24.95
0.875% debentures due 2021 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate			0.875%					0.875%		0.875%
Debt instrument, face value			$ 400,000,000					$ 400,000,000		$ 400,000,000			400,000,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price \| $ / shares			$ 48.76
4.00% debentures due 2023 [Member] [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate		4.00%						4.00%		4.00%
Debt instrument, face value		$ 425,000,000						$ 425,000,000		$ 425,000,000			425,000,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price \| $ / shares		$ 30.53
Total [Member] \| Construction Revolver [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Liquidity support facility, maximum capacity								$ 500,000,000		500,000,000
Total [Member] \| 0.875% debentures due 2021 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value			$ 250,000,000
Total [Member] \| 4.00% debentures due 2023 [Member] [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value														$ 100,000,000
Total [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage								56.00%
Customer Advances and Deposits								$ 68,700,000		68,700,000
Customer Advances and Deposits, Related Party									$ 88,500,000		88,500,000
Customer Advances, Current								14,337,000		14,337,000			12,744,000
Customer Advances, Noncurrent								54,407,000		54,407,000			68,880,000
Liquidity support facility, warrant, maximum ownership percentage allowed					74.99%
Other2									500,000		500,000
Related Party Transaction, Due from (to) Related Party								500,000		$ 500,000
Total [Member] \| 0.75% debentures due 2018 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value				$ 200,000,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Number of Equity Instruments \| shares				8,017,420
Total [Member] \| 0.875% debentures due 2021 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Number of Equity Instruments \| shares			5,126,775
Total [Member] \| 4.00% debentures due 2023 [Member] [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Number of Equity Instruments \| shares		3,275,680
Total [Member] \| Standstill Agreements [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage										15.00%
Limitations on transfer of outstanding shares										.4
Total [Member] \| Tender Offer Agreement [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage							60.00%
Consideration received in cash tender offer (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares							$ 23.25
Cash tender offer							$ 1,400,000,000
Total [Member] \| Private Placement [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage						66.00%
Consideration received in cash tender offer (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares						$ 8.80
Sale of Stock, Number of Shares Issued in Transaction \| shares						18,600,000.0
Total [Member] \| CHILE
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Customer Advances, Current												$ 1,300,000
Customer advances paid upon execution	0.1
Total [Member] \| Upfront Warrants (held by Total) [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Warrant or right, number of securities called by each warrant or right (in shares) \| shares					9,531,677
Class of warrant or right, exercise price of warrants or rights (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares					$ 7.8685
Class of warrant or right, term					7 years
Liquidity support facility, warrant, minimum amount of outstanding convertible debt required to be outstanding					$ 25,000,000.0
Total [Member] \| Interest Expense [Member] \| Credit Support Agreement [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Related Party								1,376,000	1,580,000	$ 2,783,000	3,379,000
Total [Member] \| Interest Expense [Member] \| 0.75% debentures due 2018 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Related Party								172,000	375,000	547,000	750,000
Total [Member] \| Interest Expense [Member] \| 0.875% debentures due 2021 [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Related Party								547,000	547,000	1,094,000	1,094,000
Total [Member] \| Interest Expense [Member] \| 4.00% debentures due 2023 [Member] [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest Expense, Related Party								1,000,000	1,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000
Total [Member] \| Research and Development Expense [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Offsetting contributions received under the R&D Agreement								(50,000)	37,000	(87,000)	104,000
Total [Member] \| Sales [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
EPC, O&M, and components revenue								5,369,000	3,051,000	18,099,000	7,183,000
Total [Member] \| Cost of Sales [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Related Party Costs								5,638	3,370	9,188	4,405
Total [Member] \| Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings								215,000		215,000			154,000
Total [Member] \| Accounts Receivable [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable								5,362,000		5,362,000			$ 2,366,000
Credit Agricole [Member] \| June 2017 Credit Agricole Syndicated Revolver [Member] [Domain] \| Letter of Credit [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity								$ 100,000,000.0	$ 100,000,000.0	$ 100,000,000.0	$ 100,000,000.0
guarantor commitment fee										0.005
guaranty fee percentage										0.0235
Maximum [Member] \| Total [Member] \| Standstill Agreements [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired								100.00%		100.00%