Investments in Joint Ventures and Related Party Transactions - Additional Information (Detail)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended
	May 31, 2011 T	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($) Mg	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	May 11, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Joint Venture USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Joint Venture USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv Mg	Jul. 31, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Apr. 02, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Solazyme Bunge Jv	Sep. 30, 2012 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	Dec. 16, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Director	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Solazyme Inc Director	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Roquette Freres SA Director	Dec. 31, 2012 Phase 1 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture t	Dec. 31, 2012 Phase 2 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture t	Dec. 31, 2012 Phase 3 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture t	Nov. 30, 2012 Brazil Solazyme Bunge Jv Mg	Feb. 28, 2013 Subsequent Event Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Subsequent Event Solazyme Bunge Jv BRL	Sep. 30, 2012 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2012 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Entered joint venture agreement Solazyme Bunge Jv	May 31, 2011 Commencement of construction of the plant Solazyme Bunge Jv	May 31, 2011 Oil production goal Solazyme Bunge Jv	Nov. 30, 2011 Maximum Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture	Dec. 31, 2012 Payment to be made in Fiscal 2012 Maximum USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Payment to be made after December 31, 2012 Maximum USD ($)
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Annual production capacity							100,000						100,000												300	5,000	50,000	300,000
Capital contribution committed amount																																						$ 36,300,000	$ 36,300,000
Company contributed capital							10,000,000							10,000,000															2,500,000
Losses on equity method investment																	1,800,000
Company granted Bunge Limited a warrant																			1,000,000
Percentage of warrants vested in joint venture agreement																																		25.00%	50.00%	25.00%
Exercise price of the warrant																			13.50
Triglyceride oil at the plant reaches	1,000
Warrants expiration date																	2021-05-01
Investment in Solazyme Bunge JV																		10,400,000
Warrant liability for the unvested warrant shares		835,000					835,000											7,700,000
Adjustments to additional paid in capital for vested warrants issued															4,586,000	2,656,000
Warrant shares vested, shares																	750,000
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, volatility rate																	55.00%
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, risk-free interest rate																	1.48%
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, exercise price																	$ 13.50
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, expected life																	8 years 3 months 18 days
Unrealized gain related to fair value of the warrant liability		(748,000)	(685,000)	(851,000)	3,154,000	483,000	(2,284,000)	3,637,000	2,638,000								2,300,000
Approval for project financing received in the form of loan																													120,000,000	245,700,000
Average interest rate on loan		4.60%					4.60%	4.60%																					4.00%	4.00%
Term of the loan																													8 years	8 years
Percentage of ownership in joint venture																		49.90%			50.00%		50.00%	50.00%
Number of board of directors																						4	2	2
Contribution in Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture							511,000													511,000
Reduced receivables due from joint venture																				500,000
Credit facility maximum borrowing										20,000,000																					10,000,000
Credit facility borrowed amount																																	5,000,000
Maturity period of loan facility																															Sep. 15, 2017
Loan facility termination notice period																															3 months
Credit facility outstanding balance																																5,000,000
Percentage of loan guaranteed repayment																																					50.00%
Company recognized revenue related to research and development arrangements							2,200,000	0	0
Receivables due from the joint venture companies		2,200,000					2,200,000	900,000
Unbilled revenue											$ 800,000	$ 0