Convertible and Long-term Debt Obligations - Zero-Coupon Convertible Senior Notes Due in 2020 - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior notes issued to related parties	$ 13,000,000
Zero-coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 [Member] \| SolarCity [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible senior notes issued to related parties		$ 13,000,000
Maturity Dates	Dec. 01, 2020
Convertible principal amount	$ 1,000
Convertible instrument, shares issued	3.3333
Convertible notes, conversion price	$ 300.00
Debt instrument redeemed description	The convertible senior note holders may require us to repurchase their convertible senior notes for cash only under certain defined fundamental changes. On or after June 30, 2017, the convertible senior notes will be 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 of par plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the redemption date
Common stock price to conversion price, percentage	200.00%
Debt instrument convertible trading days	45 days
Zero-coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 [Member] \| SolarCity [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible instrument, shares issued	4.2308
Zero-coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 [Member] \| SolarCity [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Convertible notes, conversion price	$ 236.36
Zero-coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 [Member] \| SolarCity [Member] \| Private Placement [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of convertible senior notes		$ 113,000,000
Interest Rate		0.00%

Convertible senior notes issue to related parties.

No definition available.

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- Definition

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.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
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- Definition

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.

+ References

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- Definition

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

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
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-Topic 470
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- Definition

Threshold period of specified consecutive trading days within which common stock price to conversion price of convertible debt instruments must exceed threshold percentage for a specified number of trading days to trigger conversion feature, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

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- Definition

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

+ References

No definition available.

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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.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
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- Definition

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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- Definition

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

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- Definition

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

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