Subsequent Events - Additional Information (Details)										9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) MW	Sep. 28, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares MW shares	Sep. 20, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 19, 2016 $ / shares	Sep. 09, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 09, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2016	Mar. 28, 2016 MW	Jan. 26, 2016 USD ($) MW	Aug. 31, 2016 MW	Jun. 05, 2015 USD ($)
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW										530
Senior Secured Credit Facility
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing amount											$ 525,000,000
Class A shares and OpCo units | SunPower and First Solar
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Cash distribution payment date										Oct. 14, 2016
Cash distribution date of record										Oct. 03, 2016
Kern Acquisition
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Payment to acquire business									$ 4,900,000
SunPower ROFO Waiver | Commercial Portfolio #3
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW	42
SunPower ROFO Waiver | Stanford Solar Generation Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW	54
SunPower ROFO Waiver | IPT Solar Gen Solar Generation Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW	20
SunPower ROFO Waiver | Boulder Solar 1
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW	100
OpCo
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Number of years, power purchase agreement serving							5 years	5 years
OpCo | Stateline Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW								300
OpCo | SunPower ROFO Waiver
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Number of years, power purchase agreement serving	5 years
Subsidiary Of Southern Company | Henrietta Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Contribution of Interest in entities										51.00%
Subsequent Event | Class A shares and OpCo units | SunPower and First Solar
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Distribution made to limited partner, Distributions declared | $ / shares				$ 0.2406
Subsequent Event | Class A shares
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
New issuance of shares | shares		8,050,000
Proceeds from public offering, net		$ 113,700,000
Proceeds from public offering, gross		$ 117,900,000
Price per share | $ / shares		$ 14.65
Underwriting discount		$ 3,500,000
Transaction fees		$ 700,000
Subsequent Event | Kern Acquisition
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Payment to acquire business						$ 9,200,000
Subsequent Event | OpCo | Senior Secured Credit Facility
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, Increase in borrowing capacity	$ 250,000,000
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing amount	$ 775,000,000
Subsequent Event | OpCo | Kern Acquisition
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Payment to acquire business					$ 9,200,000
Subsequent Event | OpCo | Sun Power And Sun Power Asset Co L L C | Henrietta Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interest			49.00%
Payment to acquire equity method investment			$ 134,000,000
Subsequent Event | OpCo | Stateline Project
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW	300
Maximum | Kern Acquisition
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
MW(ac) | MW									21
Maximum | Subsequent Event | OpCo
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Subordinated indebtedness	$ 50,000
Maximum | Subsequent Event | OpCo | Kern Acquisition
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Increase in aggregate solar nameplate capacity | MW		1
Increase in aggregate purchase price of acquisition		$ 1,600,000