Transactions with Total and Total S.A. (Details)					1 Months Ended									3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
		Mar. 04, 2019 USD ($) MW	Jan. 07, 2019 USD ($) MW	Jun. 19, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) MW	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	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 23, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Contract liabilities, current portion	[1]													$ 109,118,000		$ 109,118,000			$ 104,130,000
Contract liabilities, net of current portion	[1]													75,934,000		75,934,000			99,509,000
Debt instrument, face value														990,127,000		990,127,000			904,073,000
Proceeds from divestiture of businesses and interests in affiliates				$ 359,900,000
Accounts receivable														31,299,000		$ 31,299,000			19,062,000
Ownership interests in co-development solar project, percentage																25.00%
Investments and other noncurrent assets														$ 61,312,000		$ 61,312,000			73,339,000
0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate, percentage										0.75%					0.75%		0.75%
Debt instrument, face value										$ 300,000,000.0
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares										$ 24.95
0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate, percentage									0.875%					0.875%	0.875%	0.875%	0.875%							0.875%
Debt instrument, face value									$ 400,000,000.0
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares									$ 48.76
4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest rate, percentage								4.00%						4.00%	4.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Debt instrument, face value								$ 425,000,000.0
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares								$ 30.53
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																55.00%
Contract liabilities																						$ 88,500,000
Contract liabilities, current portion					$ 1,300,000									$ 20,402,000		$ 20,402,000			18,408,000
Contract liabilities, net of current portion														36,701,000		$ 36,701,000			45,258,000
Liquidity support facility, warrant, maximum ownership percentage allowed											74.99%
Investments and other noncurrent assets																				$ 500,000
Total | Construction Revolver
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Liquidity support facility, maximum capacity																							$ 500,000,000.0
Total | 0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value										$ 200,000,000.0
Shares to be acquired | shares										8,017,420
Total | 0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value									$ 250,000,000.0
Shares to be acquired | shares									5,126,775
Total | 4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face value								$ 100,000,000.0
Shares to be acquired | 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
Total | CHILE
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Supply agreement, power (in MW) | MW					3.42
Customer advances paid upon execution, percentage					10.00%
Total | Dubai
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Supply agreement, power (in MW) | MW		10	3.7
Contract liabilities, current portion		$ 3,200,000	$ 1,400,000
Customer advances paid upon execution, percentage		10.00%	10.00%
Total | Standstill Agreements
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership after sale of stock, percentage																15.00%
Limitations on transfer of outstanding shares, percentage																0.40
Total | Upfront warrants (held by Total) (in shares)
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 | Revenue:
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Solar power systems, components, and other														6,641,000	$ 5,369,000	$ 12,684,000	$ 18,099,000
Total | Cost of revenue:
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Solar power systems, components, and other														5,032,000	5,638,000	9,374,000	9,188,000
Total | Research and development expense:
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Offsetting contributions received under the R&D Agreement														0	(50,000)	0	(87,000)
Total | Interest expense: | Credit Support Agreement
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense														93,000	1,376,000	244,000	2,783,000
Total | Interest expense: | 0.75% debentures due 2018
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense														0	172,000	0	547,000
Total | Interest expense: | 0.875% debentures due 2021
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense														547,000	547,000	1,094,000	1,094,000
Total | Interest expense: | 4.00% debentures due 2023
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Interest expense														1,000,000	$ 1,000,000	2,000,000	$ 2,000,000
Total | Accounts receivable
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Accounts receivable														8,528,000		8,528,000			3,823,000
Total | Contract assets
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Contract assets														$ 21,000		$ 21,000			$ 18,000
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 (in MW) | MW							50
Scenario, Forecast
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership interests in co-development solar project, percentage																		25.00%

[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," "accounts payable," "accrued liabilities," "contract liabilities, current portion," "convertible debt," and "contract liabilities, net of current portion," financial statement line items on our condensed consolidated balance sheets (see Note 2, Note 9, Note 10, and Note 11).