Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer Daniels Midland Extension Warrant [Member]	Nov. 30, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company [Member]	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Brazilian Development Bank [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Brazilian Development Bank [Member] BRL	Dec. 31, 2013 Manufacturing Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 17, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	May 31, 2011 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member] Company Payment Guarantee USD ($)	Dec. 17, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member] Company Payment Guarantee USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2011 Maximum [Member] Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture [Member]	Dec. 17, 2013 Maximum [Member] Solazyme Bunge JV [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 California Office Buildings	Dec. 31, 2013 California Office Buildings sqft	Dec. 31, 2013 Brazil Office Building [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2012 Brazil Office Building [Member] BRL	Dec. 31, 2012 Brazil Office Building [Member] BRL	Dec. 31, 2013 Auto Lease Agreements [Member] BRL	Dec. 31, 2013 Auto Lease Agreements [Member] Minimum [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Auto Lease Agreements [Member] Maximum [Member]
Commitment And Contingencies [Line Items]
Net deferred rent liability	$ 300,000	$ 700,000
Deferred rent asset	3,600,000
Area of building leased																			96,000
Lease expiration date																		Feb. 01, 2015				Apr. 01, 2016
Term of lease																						Five years
Beginning date of lease																						Apr. 01, 2011
Lease rent per month																				13,000	30,500	29,500
Lease cancellation penalty percentage of remaining lease value																								50.00%	80.00%
Remaining cancellable lease value																							1,100,000	500,000
Fees paid in shares					423,278	347,483	770,761
Warrant granted to purchase shares of common stock						500,000							1,000,000
Vesting period of warrant granted to purchase shares of common stock				5 years		5 years
Warrant exercise price per share						7.17							13.50
Warrant expiry date						2019-01
Additional warrants to be granted under extension of contract				500,000
Warrant measurement date						Jul. 31, 2013
Fees paid in shares	260,000	221,000	16,000							0
Rent expense	7,100,000	2,800,000	2,000,000				100,000
Non-cancelable purchase obligations	500,000
Percentage of guarantee repayment											50.00%					50.00%
Maximum borrowing capacity								104,000,000	245,700,000
Loan guarantee repayment amount																	5,000,000
Amount drawn under facility											1,700,000
Corporate guarantee amount														900,000	900,000
Startup facility maturity date												Apr. 02, 2014
Outstanding obligation recorded related to corporate guarantee											$ 0