Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Recent Accounting Pronouncements - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Allowance for Sales Returns	Dec. 31, 2012 Allowance for Sales Returns	Dec. 31, 2013 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Letter of Credit	Dec. 31, 2012 Letter of Credit	Dec. 31, 2013 United States	Dec. 31, 2012 United States	Dec. 31, 2011 United States	Dec. 31, 2013 Brazil	Dec. 31, 2012 Brazil	Dec. 31, 2011 Brazil	Dec. 31, 2013 Product	Dec. 31, 2013 Research and Development Arrangement	Dec. 31, 2013 Algenist Product Sales Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Algenist Product Sales Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Accounts Receivable Customer	Dec. 31, 2012 Accounts Receivable Customer	Dec. 31, 2013 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture [Member] Joint Venture Dissolution	Dec. 31, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Apr. 02, 2012 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	May 31, 2011 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Nov. 03, 2010 Parent Company [Member] Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 02, 2012 Parent Company [Member] Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Roquette Freres, S. A. [Member] Joint Venture Dissolution	Dec. 31, 2013 Roquette Freres, S. A. [Member] Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture [Member]	Nov. 03, 2010 Roquette Freres, S. A. [Member] Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 02, 2012 Bunge Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership percentage																							49.90%		50.00%	50.10%			50.00%	49.90%
Joint venture agreement date																						Apr. 02, 2012						Nov. 03, 2010
Joint venture dissolution date																					Jul. 18, 2013						Jul. 18, 2013
Certificate of deposit in other long term assets							$ 300,000	$ 300,000
Payment terms for sales of Algenist products from invoice date																	30 days	90 days
Payment terms for sales of Algenist products from end of month date																	30 days	45 days
Doubtful accounts reserved	1,100,000	1,100,000
Convertible senior subordinated notes, interest rate						6.00%
Convertible senior subordinated notes, maturity date						2018
Number of concentrated customers with accounts receivables																			8	5
Accounts receivable concentrated percentage																			93.00%	96.00%
Gross account receivable related to product sales															2,900,000	1,800,000
Related party receivables	6,900,000	2,200,000
Asset impairment charges for long-lived assets	0	0	0
Warrants to purchase a number of common stock																								1,000,000
Exercise price of the warrant																								13.50
Total revenues in segment reporting									38,100,000	44,100,000	39,000,000	1,700,000	0	0
Long lived assets, net of accumulated depreciation	40,089,000	32,225,000							38,600,000	30,400,000		1,500,000	1,900,000
Algenist products life	3 years
Money back guarantee period	60 days
Customer return policies minimum	30 days
Customer return policies maximum	90 days
Reserve for product returns				1,100,000	1,100,000
Advertising expense	$ 3,100,000	$ 2,600,000	$ 1,400,000
Expected dividend yield	0.00%