Debt - Zero-Coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 - Additional Information (Detail) - Zero-Coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 [Member]	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) d shares
SolarCity [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior notes issued to related parties	$ 13,000,000
Maturity Date		Dec. 01, 2020
SolarCity [Member] \| Private Placement [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of convertible senior notes	$ 113,000,000
Interest Rate	0.00%
Solar City
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt converted instrument, aggregate principal amount	$ 1,000	$ 103,000,000
Debt instrument, shares issued upon conversion \| shares	16.6665
Convertible notes, conversion price \| $ / shares	$ 60.00
Debt instrument redeemed description		The holders of these notes were able to require us to repurchase their notes for cash only under certain defined fundamental changes. On or after June 30, 2017, these notes are redeemable by us in the event that the closing price of our common stock exceeds 200% of the conversion price for 45 consecutive trading days ending within three trading days of such redemption notice at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount plus any accrued and unpaid interest.
Common stock price to conversion price, percentage		200.00%
Debt instrument convertible trading days \| d		45
Percentage of redemption price		100.00%
Solar City \| Common Stock [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, shares issued upon conversion \| shares		1.7
Solar City \| Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) to additional paid in capital, stock split		$ 101,000,000
Solar City \| Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, shares issued upon conversion \| shares	21.1538
Solar City \| Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible notes, conversion price \| $ / shares	$ 47.27

Adjustments to additional paid in capital increase (decrease) in stock split.

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- Definition

Convertible senior notes issue to related parties.

+ References

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The value of the financial instrument(s) that the original debt is being converted into in a noncash (or part noncash) transaction. "Part noncash" refers to that portion of the transaction not resulting in cash receipts or cash payments in the period.

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The number of shares issued in exchange for the original debt being converted in a noncash (or part noncash) transaction. "Part noncash" refers to that portion of the transaction not resulting in cash receipts or payments in the period.

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

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Threshold period of specified consecutive trading days within which common stock price to conversion price of convertible debt instrument must exceed threshold percentage for specified number of trading days to trigger conversion feature.

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Minimum percentage of common stock price to conversion price of convertible debt instruments to determine eligibility of conversion.

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

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

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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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Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

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Description of debt redemption features under terms of the debt agreement.

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Percentage of principal amount of debt redeemed.

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