Clouds are formed when the water on the earth (mostly from the
oceans) evaporates under the heat of the sun.
Evaporation is due to the energy of the sun being imparted to
the water molecules in the seas and releasing them from the bondage
they endured as a liquid.
As an energis[z]ed gas, the mass of lively water molecules
behave in many ways to reflect, absorb, and distribute the energy
of the sun upon our planet.
Go figure!
Also see Joni Mitchell