XML 20 R33.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.3.0.814

Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) | 9 Months Ended | 21 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | ---
Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) entity | Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |
Number of businesses acquired | entity |  | 3 |
Titan Energy Worldwide Inc. [Member] |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |
Business acquisition, effective date of acquisition | Dec. 02, 2014 |  |
Equity method investment, ownership percentage |  |  | 100.00%
Transaction costs incurred |  |  | $ 700,000
Harmonics Holdings Inc. [Member] |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |
Business acquisition, effective date of acquisition | Jan. 16, 2015 |  |
Transaction costs incurred | $ 13,000 | $ 13,000 |
Pacific Power Systems Integration Inc. [Member] |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |
Business acquisition, effective date of acquisition | Aug. 01, 2015 |  |
Transaction costs incurred | $ 56,000 | $ 56,000 |

X
- Definition Amount of direct costs of the business combination including legal, accounting, and other costs incurred to consummate the business acquisition. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionCostOfAcquiredEntityTransactionCosts
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Date when the acquirer obtains control of the acquiree, in CCYY-MM-DD format. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 25 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34752592&loc=d3e845-128460 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Acquisition Date -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6919109 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 25 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34752592&loc=d3e848-128460 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25497992&loc=d3e1392-128463 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionEffectiveDateOfAcquisition1
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (a)(1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition The number of businesses acquired by the entity during the period. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NumberOfBusinessesAcquired
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=ppsi_TitanEnergyWorldwideIncorporatedMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=ppsi_HarmonicsHoldingsIncorporatedMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=ppsi_PacificPowerSystemsIntegrationIncorporatedMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |