RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Wildfire smoke from Canada and other fires around the world could have a significant impact on how efficient solar panels are.

A researcher at South Dakota Mines says widespread smoke can reduce the output of individual solar panels by nearly 50 percent — even on days when smoke is present at high altitudes and air quality near the ground is not significantly impacted.

The research report says this could impact the overall effort to transition the u-s away from fossil fuels towards solar-based systems.