Investments in Joint Ventures and Related Party Transactions - Additional Information (Detail)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended							3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended
	May 31, 2011 T	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($) T	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	May 11, 2011 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Solazyme Bunge Jv BRL	Nov. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv T	Jun. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2012 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Solazyme Bunge Jv USD ($)	Sep. 30, 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 ($)	Dec. 16, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Director	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Solazyme Inc Director	Nov. 30, 2010 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Roquette Freres SA Director	Mar. 31, 2013 Corporate Joint Venture USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Joint Venture USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Phase 1 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture T	Mar. 31, 2013 Phase 2 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture T	Mar. 31, 2013 Phase 3 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture T	Nov. 30, 2012 Brazil Solazyme Bunge Jv T	May 31, 2011 Entered joint venture agreement Solazyme Bunge Jv	May 31, 2011 Commencement of construction of the plant Solazyme Bunge Jv	May 31, 2011 Oil production goal Solazyme Bunge Jv	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum Payment to be made in Fiscal 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum Payment to be made after December 31, 2012 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2011 Maximum Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture	Sep. 30, 2012 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2012 Unguaranteed Loans Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture USD ($)
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [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		5,500,000									5,500,000	10,000,000
Losses on equity method investment											1,000,000
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		781,000		835,000									7,700,000
Adjustments to additional paid in capital for vested warrants issued									4,600,000	2,700,000
Warrant shares vested, shares											750,000
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, volatility rate											50.00%
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, risk-free interest rate											1.56%
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, exercise price											$ 13.50
Fair value assumptions of the warrant liability, expected life											8 years 1 month 6 days
Unrealized gain related to fair value of the warrant liability		(54,000)									54,000
Approval for project financing received in the form of loan						121,000,000	245,700,000
Average interest rate on loan						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															500,000
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		Mar. 26, 2015																														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		800,000	0
Receivables due from the joint venture companies		2,700,000		2,200,000
Unbilled revenue																				$ 800,000	$ 800,000