Well, I'm going to jump in right here because this looks like a relatively new thread.

I live at Lake Tahoe and I have my eye on a house that needs to be finished. Right now it's just a foundation and a bare shell, but my son is a general contractor and we are talking about finishing the building in a green way (if they accept my offer and I actually get this particular house.)
I have a question about solar panels: In snow country (and if I'm going to have limited roof space for solar panels), which would be the more desirable - panels that generate electricity or panels that generate hot water?
I'm planning to have radiant in-floor heating, which means that I could have my hot water at least somewhat pre-heated by the sun, but there's a greater likelihood of my panels being covered with snow in the wintertime when I'm needing that hot water. If I'm generating electricity with my solar panels at least I'll be able to sell some of that back to the power company in the summertime when the sun is on my roof.
Any comments will be greatly appreciated!