New research from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing suggests that the economy shrank in 2020. But despite this, demand for home improvements surged. While the data indicate the output contracted by more than 3.5 percent last year, spending on home repairs actually grew by 3 percent, beating expectations. The growth marked the tenth consecutive year of expansion for the industry. The last time the sector was in contraction was during the financial crisis that spanned 2007-2010.

But why has spending on home improvements gone up so much during the pandemic, despite the strain on people’s incomes? Let’s take a look.

The Return Of The DIY Mentality

While the economy was good from 2011 to 2019, people relied on professional contractors to carry out work on their properties. However, thanks to financial concerns in the aftermath of the pandemic, there was a switch to more do-it-yourself (DIY) work. Many employees were at home more and so took the opportunity to use their spare time productively. Instead of paying a professional to come over and fix up a room for them, they did it themselves.

DIY projects, therefore, are enjoying renewed popularity, especially in lower-income metro areas. According to a homeowner survey reported in the LBM Journal, more than 60 percent of people had begun some sort of home maintenance or renovation project in the first two or three weeks of lockdown. And by May, around two months into the pandemic in the US, the number was more than 80 percent.

Increasing Frequency Of Natural Disasters

Researchers also believe that climate change might be impacting the amount Americans are spending on home repairs. The increasing frequency of disasters, they say, is leading to more home damage necessitating repairs.

For instance, disaster repairs reached an estimated 10 percent of total home improvement expenditures in 2020; a massive $26 billion. A lot of this spending, according to researchers, was due to tornadoes and hurricanes in the southeast of the country, like Florida, its important to have an Ocala Roofing Company on speed dial. For instance, more than 41 percent of all home repair spending was in the Houston area following hurricanes that hit the region in 2019 and 2020.

Pent-Up Demand

Furthermore, spending on many other goods and services went into freefall during the pandemic. People spent less on transport because there was nowhere to go. And they spent less on overseas travel too, thanks to the shutdown of international flights and holiday destinations.

With these major items off the menu, money in people’s accounts soon began piling. And, before long, many homeowners got the itch to spend. Their houses became the obvious choice.

In the immediate aftermath of the arrival of the pandemic, many homeowners put off working on their properties. But as it became clear that the coronavirus was here to stay, many began DIY renovation projects, such as installing modern cabinets, alongside remote work. Combined with the upturn in multi-generational households, the demand for renovations and home improvements has never been higher.

That home improvement demand should go up during the pandemic seems counterintuitive. But the driving factors make sense once you understand the underlying economics of the situation.

There’s been somewhat of an increase in popularity when it comes to solar power, with many properties both residential and commercial opting to utilize this renewable energy source through local companies offering a solar panel installation service. But how environmentally-friendly is it? In this article, we’ll be looking at whether or not solar power provides benefits to the environment or whether it’s damaging it.

The Manufacturing Of Solar Panels

Before diving into whether or not they’re beneficial for the environment when in use, it’s good to assess the manufacturing of solar panels and how much that impact that may have. Solar panels begin with a common material called quartz and this can be something that’s found in your home, usually on things like your kitchen worktops. Due to the dangers the quartz creates for miners who mine for the material, they’re finding themselves moving towards quartz-rich sands instead.

The manufacturing of the quartz into polysilicon is one that scientists have managed to create through recycling silicon tetrachloride back to the polysilicon in order to reuse it for the production of more solar panels. So with that being said, the manufacturing process itself is pretty sustainable.

What carbon footprint is created with solar panels?

As electricity is produced from solar energy, there’s no emissions of greenhouse gases, fossil fuels, etc. However, there is energy required to make the solar panels but the energy that they produce ends up exceeding what’s used to manufacture them in the first place. So it’s using up a little electrical energy in order to reproduce a lot more sustainable and renewable energy.

And with new technologies, there’s a lot more focus being put on the creation of solar panels to extend their lifetime in order to get the most out of it.

Does maintenance of solar panels impact the environment?

Keeping them clean is likely the only maintenance needed and so the only thing in this case to assess is the amount of water that’s used. In this case it’s around 20 gallons of water per megawatt-hour of electricity. This is less than the typical amount of water that a family would use in a year.

With solar panel cleaning, it’s not something that needs to be done very often either.

The impact on wildlife

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to our environment is creating a world in which it is healthy for other animals to thrive and survive. The solar industry is often looking at ways to improve the impact it can have on animal and plant life when it comes to the solar farms that are created.

As such, there are pre-clearing surveys done to guarantee the safety of local wildlife before the process of the solar projects would even begin. This is certainly more done than can be said for other fuel and energy types.

The reality of solar panels is that this is the cleanest energy source that we have available and it’s something that could certainly help save our planet from getting worse. It’s worth it for more individuals and businesses to make the leap over to solar energy where possible.