California is one of the most clean energy states in the union. A lot of people point to the sunny climates that Californians are lucky to have most of the year round. However, there are parts of the state that experience many days of cloudy weather as well as parts of the state that have a lot of snow in the winter. In fact, there are a lot of ski resorts that are located in California. What is also true is that the weather effects on solar panels in these areas have no direct correlation to the successful use of photovoltaic panels that are used on homes and businesses to create electricity from solar energy. Living in snowy regions has little effect on being able to get your energy from the sun.

While having extremely heavy snowfalls can cause some intermittent problems, the experience in this area has been that the snow melts quickly due to the reflection of the sun on the glass of the solar panels. Just as a skier might get sunburn while on the snowy and cold slopes, that is the effect of snow on the ability to produce electricity from sunlight. The solar panels used most often today have the solar modules which are groups of solar cells encased in glass. This produces radiant light which is a result of the sunlight's reflection on the glass panels. This is the same radiant light that produces heat from passive energy created when the sun shines on glass windows.

A model was designed by both Queen's University and St. Lawrence College in Ontario, Canada to show weather effects on solar panels and how it affects the amount of electricity produced. The models were created to show whether or not there was a decrease of energy produced from snow conditions with a number of variants added to the models. The solar arrays were placed at different angles and faced various directions in order to determine what the weather effects on solar panels and the energy output differences might be. Another variant added was severe temperature changes. In almost all of the situations constructed, the snow and temperature had no effect at all.

The conclusion is that no matter where people live and work, solar energy can produce the amount of electricity needed in a very economical and environmentally sound way. Canada has one of the largest solar arrays in the world. Turning radiant light from the sun is both financially and practically beneficial.