Transactions with Total and Total S.A. (Details)		1 Months Ended									3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	May 31, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 MW	Dec. 31, 2015 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	Dec. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 01, 2018	Jun. 23, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Contract liabilities											$ 0	$ 175,000	$ 0	$ 175,000
Debt instrument, face value											904,073,000	1,621,766,000	904,073,000	1,621,766,000
Accounts receivable											$ 19,062,000	1,275,000	$ 19,062,000	1,275,000
Ownership interests in co-development solar project											25.00%		25.00%
Investments and other noncurrent assets											$ 73,339,000	60,858,000	$ 73,339,000	60,858,000
Gain on sale of equity method investment												5,300,000	54,196,000	5,346,000	$ 0
Contract liabilities, current portion	[1]										104,130,000	101,723,000	104,130,000	101,723,000
Contract liabilities, net of current portion	[1]										$ 99,509,000	133,390,000	$ 99,509,000	133,390,000
0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate							0.75%				0.75%		0.75%			0.75%
Debt instrument, face value							$ 300,000,000
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares							$ 24.95
0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate						0.875%					0.875%		0.875%							0.875%
Debt instrument, face value						$ 400,000,000
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares						$ 48.76
4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate					4.00%						4.00%		4.00%
Debt instrument, face value					$ 425,000,000
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares					$ 30.53
Total | Construction Revolver
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Liquidity support facility, maximum capacity																			$ 500,000,000
Total | 0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value						$ 250,000,000
Total | 4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value					$ 100,000,000
Credit Agricole | June 2017 Credit Agricole Syndicated Revolver | Letter of Credit
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity			$ 100,000,000.0														$ 100,000,000.0
Guarantor commitment fee			0.50%
Guaranty fee percentage			2.35%
Total
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage													56.00%
Contract liabilities																		$ 88,500,000
Liquidity support facility, warrant, maximum ownership percentage allowed								74.99%
Related party transaction, due from (to) related party											$ 300,000		$ 300,000
Investments and other noncurrent assets												500,000		500,000
Contract liabilities, current portion		$ 1,300,000									18,408,000	12,744,000	18,408,000	12,744,000
Contract liabilities, net of current portion											45,258,000	68,880,000	$ 45,258,000	68,880,000
Total | 0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value							$ 200,000,000
Debt instrument, convertible, number of equity instruments | shares							8,017,420
Total | 0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, convertible, number of equity instruments | shares						5,126,775
Total | 4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, convertible, number of equity instruments | shares					3,275,680
Total | Tender Offer Agreement
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 | Private Placement
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
Number of shares of common stock issued and sold | shares									18,600,000.0
Total | CHILE
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Customer advances paid upon execution		10.00%
Total | Standstill Agreements
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage													15.00%
Limitations on transfer of outstanding shares													.4
Total | Upfront Warrants (held by Total)
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of securities called by each warrant (in shares) | shares								9,531,677
Exercise price of warrants (in dollars per share) | $ / shares								$ 7.8685
Class of warrant, term								7 years
Liquidity support facility, warrant, minimum amount of outstanding convertible debt required to be outstanding								$ 25,000,000.0
Total | Sales
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
EPC, O&M, and components revenue													$ 28,094,000	42,968,000	64,719,000
Total | Cost of Sales
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
EPC, O&M, and components cost of revenue													16,382,000	30,400,000	60,799,000
Total | Research and Development Expense
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Offsetting contributions received under the R&D Agreement													(93,000)	(138,000)	(557,000)
Total | Interest Expense | Credit Support Agreement
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense:													5,312,000	6,325,000	7,130,000
Total | Interest Expense | 0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense:													547,000	1,500,000	1,500,000
Total | Interest Expense | 0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense:													2,188,000	2,188,000	2,188,000
Total | Interest Expense | 4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense:													4,000,000	4,000,000	$ 4,000,000
Total | Costs and Estimated Earnings in Excess of Billings
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Contract assets											18,000	154,000	18,000	154,000
Total | Accounts Receivable
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable											$ 3,823,000	$ 2,366,000	$ 3,823,000	$ 2,366,000
Total | Maximum | Standstill Agreements
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Percentage of voting interests acquired in business acquisition											100.00%		100.00%
Total | Majority Shareholder
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Supply agreement, term				4 years
Supply agreement, power (in MW) | MW				200
Supply agreement, power provided in agreement (in MW) | MW				150
Supply agreement, additional power purchase option | MW				50

[1] We have related-party balances for transactions made with Total S.A. and its affiliates as well as unconsolidated entities in which we have a direct equity investment. These related-party balances are recorded within the "Accounts receivable, net," "Contract assets," "Project assets - plants and land, current portion," "Prepaid expenses and other current assets," "Other long-term assets," "Accounts payable," "Accrued liabilities," "Contract liabilities, current portion," "Convertible debt, current portion," "Convertible debt, net of current portion," "Contract liabilities, net of current portion," and "Other long-term liabilities" financial statement line items in our Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 2, Note 8, Note 10, Note 11, Note 12, and Note 13).