VIE Arrangements - Summary of Number of Current VIE Funds by Classification of Investor, the Carrying Value, Total Investor Contributions Received and Undrawn Investor Contributions (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Fund	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 5,828,755,000	$ 4,375,553,000
VIEs [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Funds \| Fund	47
Total Investor Contributions Received	$ 3,924,652,000
Undrawn Investor Contributions	272,092,000
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 3,975,214,000	$ 2,779,363,000
VIEs [Member] \| Financial Institutions [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Funds \| Fund	34
Total Investor Contributions Received	$ 2,623,918,000
Undrawn Investor Contributions	106,850,000
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 2,658,407,000
VIEs [Member] \| Corporations [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Funds \| Fund	8
Total Investor Contributions Received	$ 1,020,058,000
Undrawn Investor Contributions	130,209,000
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 1,038,946,000
VIEs [Member] \| Utilities [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Funds \| Fund	4
Total Investor Contributions Received	$ 278,888,000
Undrawn Investor Contributions	35,033,000
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 274,764,000
VIEs [Member] \| Other Investors [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Funds \| Fund	1
Total Investor Contributions Received	$ 1,788,000
Carrying Value of Solar Energy System	$ 3,097,000

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Undrawn investor contributions.

+ References

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- Definition

The amount of property, by major property class, net of accumulated depreciation, subject to or available for lease as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6454179&loc=d3e41551-112718

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- Definition

The amount of financial or other support the reporting entity has provided (explicitly or implicitly) to the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) that it was not previously contractually required to provide or that the reporting entity intends to provide, including, for example, situations in which the reporting entity assisted the VIE in obtaining another type of support.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64801991&loc=SL6759159-111685

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