There are certain things that are exclusive to London, be it the London Eye, the Thames or the black cabs, these symbols are globally recognizable. Red phone booths are another symbol that scream London and now they’re nothing more than tourist attractions because no one needs public phones anymore given that mobiles have taken over. A new project is underway which is converting these infamous red phone booths to solar powered mobile charging stations.
The project, called Solarbox, is being headed by Kirsty Kenney and Harold Craston who won $8000 in funding from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, in his 2014 Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition.
One Solarbox has already been set up on Tottenham Court Road in London, a busy shopping district, and six more are in the process of being set up in various locations around the capital. Powered by solar energy the charging stations will be capable of charging up as many as 100 phones every single day. Anyone and everyone can use a Solarbox to charge his or her devices free of cost.
The second Solarbox is expected to be opened in January and others will follow soon after that. It hasn’t been confirmed exactly how many of the red phone booths lying unused will be converted into green Solarboxes, certainly the city would like to keep some to appease tourists as well.
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