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Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	0 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended						3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended										12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Nov. 19, 2013 USD ($)	Jul. 05, 2011 Claim	May 12, 2011 Employee Claim	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) sqft	Jun. 11, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 17, 2011 Bonds USD ($) Claim	Feb. 04, 2015 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd EUR (€)	Aug. 29, 2014 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd EUR (€)	Jan. 14, 2014 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd USD ($)	May 12, 2011 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd USD ($)	May 12, 2011 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2014 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 Ghodawat Energy Pvt Ltd EUR (€)	Feb. 27, 2012 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Feb. 27, 2012 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Dec. 22, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Dec. 22, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Oct. 17, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Oct. 17, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Oct. 08, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Oct. 08, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Sep. 13, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Sep. 13, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Mar. 31, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. CNY	Sep. 16, 2011 Dalian Guotong Electric Co. Ltd. USD ($)	Sep. 16, 2011 Dalian Guotong Electric Co. Ltd. CNY
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrued adverse purchase commitments						$ 402,000us-gaap_PurchaseCommitmentRemainingMinimumAmountCommitted
Total space leased, square feet				272,000amsc_AreaOfLeasedProperty
Sought compensation amount	10,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue										24,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember	18,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember				17,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	105,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	190,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	1,200,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	157,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	1,000,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	58,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	370,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember			76,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	485,000,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember
Counterclaims under License Agreement											8,000,000amsc_CounterclaimForDamagesSought / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember	6,000,000amsc_CounterclaimForDamagesSought / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Liability for damages							475,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesAwardedValue / us-gaap_SummaryOfInvestmentsOtherThanInvestmentsInRelatedPartiesByTypeAxis = us-gaap_BondsMember		8,300,000us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesAwardedValue / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Interest rate accrued on liability for damage									5.33%amsc_LossContingencyInterestRate / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Loss contingency													10,200,000us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember	500,000us-gaap_LossContingencyLossInPeriod / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Reimbursement of arbitration expenses										2,300,000amsc_ReimbursementOfArbitrationExpenses / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Reversed legal expenses														2,200,000us-gaap_LegalFees / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Settlement amount				(8,987,000)us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmount				7,450,000us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmount / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember							7,450,000us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmount / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Expected excess on reversal accrued arbitration liability														1,200,000us-gaap_GainLossRelatedToLitigationSettlement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_GhodawatEnergyPvtLtdMember
Number of putative securities complaints			7us-gaap_LossContingencyNewClaimsFiledNumber				4us-gaap_LossContingencyNewClaimsFiledNumber / us-gaap_SummaryOfInvestmentsOtherThanInvestmentsInRelatedPartiesByTypeAxis = us-gaap_BondsMember
Number of officers putative securities filed against			2amsc_NumberOfOfficersPutativeSecuritiesFiledAgainst
Number of complaints additionally asserted claims against the underwriters			1amsc_NumberOfComplaintAdditionallyAssertedClaimsAgainstUnderwriters
Settlement amount expected to be funded by insurers	8,200,000us-gaap_InsuranceSettlementsReceivable
Settlement amount expected to be paid by issuance of common stock	1,800,000amsc_SettlementAmountExpectedToBePaidByIssuanceOfCommonStock
Common stock, capital shares reserved for future issuance	94,488us-gaap_CommonStockCapitalSharesReservedForFutureIssuance
Shortfall payment					500,000amsc_ShortfallPayment
Number of claims consolidated		3amsc_LossContingencyNumberOfClaimsConsolidated
Value of the undelivered components																										720,000,000amsc_SupplyCommitmentRemainingMinimumAmountCommitted / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	4,600,000,000amsc_SupplyCommitmentRemainingMinimumAmountCommitted / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember
Damages claimed for unauthorized use of software																								6,000,000amsc_DamagesClaimedForUnauthorizedUseOfSoftware / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	38,000,000amsc_DamagesClaimedForUnauthorizedUseOfSoftware / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember
Monetary damages for trade secret infringement																								453,000,000amsc_MonetaryDamagesForTradeSecretInfringement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember	2,900,000,000amsc_MonetaryDamagesForTradeSecretInfringement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_SinovelWindGroupCoLtdMember
Monetary losses from copyright infringement																												200,000amsc_MonetaryLossesFromCopyrightInfringement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_DalianGuotongElectricCoLtdMember	1,200,000amsc_MonetaryLossesFromCopyrightInfringement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = amsc_DalianGuotongElectricCoLtdMember
Restricted cash included in current assets				2,822,000us-gaap_RestrictedCashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue		2,913,000us-gaap_RestrictedCashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue
Restricted cash				$ 1,236,000us-gaap_RestrictedCashAndCashEquivalentsNoncurrent		$ 3,394,000us-gaap_RestrictedCashAndCashEquivalentsNoncurrent

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