Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 02, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	World Energy Solutions, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001371781
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2011
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	This Amendment No. 1 is being filed to restate our financial statements as of December 31, 2011 to correct the recording of certain commission payments from our mid-market product-line. Under our accounting policies in effect at the time of the filing of the original Annual Report, we recognized revenue from up-front commissions as cash was received from our energy supplier, beginning with the quarter ended December 31, 2011. However, in connection with the preparation of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, we determined that we were required to record these revenues upon contract completion, or earlier to the extent that actual energy usage data is received from the energy supplier or can be reliably estimated. As we did not receive actual energy usage from the energy supplier as the upfront payments were made and we have not been able to retrospectively obtain actual energy usage to make a reliable estimate of these amounts, we have deferred revenue recognition until evidence is obtained that actual energy has occurred or until the end of contract term. We expect to recognize these amounts of revenue and net income in subsequent periods. Generally, for the quarterly and year-to-date periods ended December 31, 2011, this change in accounting treatment and financial statement restatements has resulted in: • No impact to our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments or overall cash flow;• A decrease in our revenue of $0.6 million (9.5%), an increase in our net loss from $0.8 million to $1.3 million and an increase in our loss per share from $(0.07) to $(0.12) for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, and an decrease in our revenue of $0.6 million (2.7%), a decrease in our net income from $0.5 million to a net loss of $46,000 and a decreasein our earnings per share from $0.05 to $0.00 for the year ended December 31, 2011; and• A decrease in current assets of $0.5 million (6.9%), an increase in total assets of approximately $36,000, an increase in current liabilities of $0.1 million (0.7%), an increase in total liabilities of $0.6 million (4.7%) and a decrease in shareholders’ equity of $0.6 million (2.7%).
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Entity Public Float			$ 30,705,583
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		11,874,259