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.

No definition available.

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of voting equity interests acquired at the acquisition date in the business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65885119&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionPercentageOfVotingInterestsAcquired
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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after deferred tax asset, of deferred tax liability attributable to taxable differences without jurisdictional netting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 6
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75116654&loc=d3e31931-109318

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cafd_TwoThousandFifteenAcquisitionMember
Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=cafd_FirstEnergySolutionsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cafd_MarylandSolarProjectEntityMember
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Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=cafd_PacificGasAndElectricCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=cafd_NorthStarMember
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Business Combinations - 2015 Acquisition Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Nov. 30, 2017	Nov. 30, 2016	Nov. 30, 2015	Jun. 24, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Deferred tax liabilities	$ 37,318	$ 30,733	$ 12,503
2015 Acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Deferred tax liabilities				$ 2,300
First Energy Solutions \| Maryland Solar
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Interest acquired				100.00%
Pacific Gas and Electric \| North Star
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interest				49.00%