Nationwide rollout of 3,500 solar postboxes with parcel drawer

Royal Mail is beginning a nationwide rollout of 3,500 solar powered "postboxes of the future" that include a digitally activated dropdown drawer for small parcels, marking what the company calls the biggest redesign of its iconic pillar boxes in 175 years. Trialled earlier this year in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, the new units will appear in cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Sunderland and allow customers to deposit labelled parcels up to the size of a shoebox by scanning a barcode in the Royal Mail app. The boxes retain a separate slot for letters and offer proof of posting and parcel tracking through the same app.

The redesigned postboxes are topped with a grid of dark solar panels mounted on a white rectangle, which will be oriented due south to maximise sunlight. The solar panels power the barcode scanner and the drawer mechanism. Royal Mail says the new design is intended to make posting, collecting and returning parcels more convenient as consumer demand for parcel services continues to grow, driven in part by online shopping and the expansion of secondhand marketplaces.

Jack Clarkson, managing director of out of home and commercial...