Line of Credit, Loans Payable and Financing Obligations - Additional Information (Detail)	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended								9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Feb. 15, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 26, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Cathay [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Cathay [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2010 Original Loan Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Original Loan Agreement [Member] East West Bank [Member] Installment	Sep. 30, 2012 Original Loan Agreement [Member] Five Star Bank [Member] Installment	Jun. 30, 2012 Loan Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Loan Agreement [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 First Facility Agreement [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Second Facility Agreement [Member] China, Yuan Renminbi [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Facility Agreements [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Line of Credit [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 SPI New Jersey [Member] First Facility Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] First Facility Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] First Facility Agreement Two [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] First Facility Agreement Two [Member] CNY	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] Second Facility Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 SPI New Jersey [Member] Second Facility Agreement Two [Member] CNY	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] Second Facility Agreement Two [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 SPI New Jersey [Member] Second Facility Agreement Two [Member] CNY	Sep. 30, 2012 SPI New Jersey [Member] Facility Agreements [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Solar Green Technology [Member] EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2012 Solar Green Technology [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($) Lenders	Sep. 30, 2012 CDB [Member] Facility Agreements [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 CDB [Member] Facility Agreements [Member] USD ($)
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Amount of line of credit of the lesser			$ 9,000,000		$ 9,000,000																	$ 3,600,000	$ 11,500,000	72,150,000	$ 15,600,000	77,850,000	$ 12,300,000	77,850,000		€ 5,500,000	$ 7,000,000
Percentage of aggregate amount in accounts receivable, line of credit extended					70.00%
Variable Interest rate of loan														1.25%						1.25%
Line of credit								7,500,000	6,000,000						6,200,000	5,600,000																27,900,000	19,200,000
Line of credit maturity date		Dec. 31, 2012
Minimum pre-tax profit covenant		1,000,000
Borrowings against customer advance, Interest rate range						8.80%	4.20%
Borrowings against customer advance, Interest Repayment Due period		120 months
Unsecured revolving credit agreement, Number of Lenders																															6
Borrowings against customer advance, Interest Repayment frequency		Quarterly
Front-end fee on first drawings																	1.50%	1.50%
Second facility front-end fee on first drawings																	1.50%	1.50%
Additional fee on undrawn funds																	0.50%	0.50%
Facility agreements maturity period																			24 months										12 months
Repayment on first Facility Agreement																					3,600,000
Loan amount										3,900,000			4,500,000
Interest rate on loan										8.00%
Maturity date of loan agreement		May 01, 2020
Monthly payment of loan		48,000
Loan maturity start date	Jul. 15, 2010
Loan maturity end date	Jun. 15, 2020
Number of monthly payments evidenced by Promissory Note											108	120
Percentage of margin in addition to Prime Rate, minimum													6.00%
Percentage of debt instrument stated interest rate increased		11.00%
Loan payable under Loan Agreement		$ 0		$ 4,300,000