Note 12 - Stockholders' Equity (Detail)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		10 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Jun. 22, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)		Mar. 29, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011 LDK [Member] Common Stock [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 22, 2011 LDK [Member] Series A Preferred Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 LDK [Member] Series A Preferred Stock [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 22, 2011 LDK [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Stock [Member] Consultant [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Common Stock [Member] Consultant [Member]	Feb. 15, 2012 Common Stock [Member] Cathay Bank [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Common Stock [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Warrant [Member] Consultant [Member]	Feb. 15, 2012 Warrant [Member] Cathay Bank [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Warrant [Member] Cathay Bank [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 08, 2012 Director [Member] Equity Incentive Plan [Member]	Jul. 22, 2011 Director [Member] Equity Incentive Plan [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 12, 2012 Director [Member] Equity Incentive Plan [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2010 Consultant [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 LDK Europe [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Two Founders of SGT [Member]	Feb. 15, 2012 Cathay Bank [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 Solar Green Technology [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 Solar Green Technology [Member] EUR (€)
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues (in Shares)						42,835,947		20,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues (in Dollars)								$ 22,200,000
Conversion of Stock, Shares Converted (in Shares)							20,000,000		88,910,400
Proceeds from Issuance of Common Stock (in Dollars)						10,700,000
Percentage of Common Stock Outstanding Owned by Parent Company	71.00%	71.00%
Common Stock, Shares, Outstanding		198,214,456	184,413,923	[1]	52,267,576
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Restricted Stock Award, Gross													400,000	400,000				400,000	400,000
Share Price (in Dollars per share)																			$ 0.48	$ 0.265
Business Acquisition, Equity Interest Issued or Issuable, Number of Shares																						9,771,223	1,814,655
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price (in Euro)																									6,300,000	5,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price (in Dollars)																									6,300,000	5,000,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights											500,000	300,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights (in Dollars per Item)											0.25	0.75
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Award Vesting Period															5 years
Class of Warrant or Right, Fair-valued Price Per Share (in Dollars per share)												$ 0.29									$ 0.23
Class of Warrant or Right, Shares Cancelled										500,000
Class of Warrant or Right, Issued During Period			0
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding (in Dollars)																								9,000,000
Fair Value Assumptions, Risk Free Interest Rate																38.00%
Fair Value Assumptions, Expected Volatility Rate																103.00%
Fair Value Assumptions, Expected Dividend Rate																0.00%
Fair Value Assumptions, Expected Term																3 years
Allocated Share-based Compensation Expense (in Dollars)		$ 455,000	$ 461,000	[2]													$ 87,000

[1] As recast to reflect the balances of Solar Green Technology S.p.A. ("SGT") beginning January 1, 2011 combined with the balances of Solar Power, Inc. beginning March 31, 2011, as required under the accounting guidelines for a transfer of an entity under common control (refer to Note 5 -Acquisition of Solar Green Technology).

[2] As recast to reflect the activity of SGT beginning January 1, 2011 combined with the balances of Solar Power, Inc. beginning March 31, 2011, as required under the accounting guidelines for a transfer of an entity under common control (refer to Note 5 -Acquisition of Solar Green Technology ).