November 2, 2025
Going postal, but make it solar
Solar-powered QR reading postboxes being rolled out across UK
Brits split: cool green upgrade or a billionaire’s rebrand
TLDR: Royal Mail is rolling out 3,500 solar-powered postboxes with code-scanned drawers for small parcels. Commenters are split between praising convenience and sustainability, blasting billionaire ownership and app hurdles, and begging to save knitted postbox toppers—plus endless jokes about whether British sunshine can power anything.
Britain’s beloved red postboxes are getting tiny solar hats, and the internet has Opinions. Royal Mail says 3,500 new boxes with sun-powered lids and a barcode scanner will let you scan in the app, drop a shoebox-sized parcel into a pop-out drawer, and be on your way. It’s the biggest makeover in 175 years, as the company—now owned by a Czech billionaire and fined for missed delivery targets—races to win back parcel business from rivals like Evri and Yodel.
Cue community drama: the top-voted mood is suspicion. One commenter groaned that we’re “playthings in a billionaire world,” reading the solar upgrade as a shiny distraction from late letters and cutbacks. On the softer side, locals pleaded: don’t kill the joy. Fans of postbox “yarn-bombing” (those adorable knitted toppers) worry panels will end the whimsy. Royal Mail did at least keep the tops red after a black-cap trial, to protect the classic look.
And yes, the jokes wrote themselves. Brits dunked on the idea of solar in cloudy weather and the boxes being “due south” like they’re sunbathing. Memes imagined postboxes “charging” in February. Some wondered if app-only steps might sideline less techy senders. But if it speeds up returns? Many say: let the sun do the lifting.
Key Points
- •Royal Mail will roll out 3,500 solar-powered postboxes across the UK after successful pilots in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
- •Solar panels, oriented due south, power a barcode-activated drop-down drawer for small parcels up to shoebox size.
- •Customers can use the Royal Mail app for proof of posting and parcel tracking with the new boxes.
- •The redesign, claimed as Royal Mail’s biggest in 175 years, aims to boost parcel convenience amid rising online shopping and competition.
- •Royal Mail faces competitive and cost pressures, including fines for missed letter targets and reduced second-class letter delivery frequency.