Britain's iconic red telephone boxes have been given a modern makeover - as mobile phone chargers. Painted green and given a trendy logo, this is the UK's first landmark to be transformed into a solar-powered device. While many phone boxes in Britain's capital fall into disrepair, the Solarbox is giving them a much-needed boost. Green: The old telephone boxes are also being painted green to emphasise the greener economy . Placed outside exit three outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, the Solarbox is the work of two geography graduates from London's School of Economics who started the project in 2013. With the help of funding from a variety of schemes, they've created this new addition to London's streets. Kirsty Kenney, co-founder of Solarbox, said: 'Solarbox is turning London's disused telephone boxes into solar-powered charging points for mobile phones. The Solarbox was created by transforming a traditional London telephone box into a solar powered charger . 'The idea for Solarbox came about through three reasons really. 'The first is that phone boxes aren't used anymore. The second is modern phone battery life can't keep up the pace with our lives. And the third is there is nowhere really to charge your phones in the public realm. 'So we did some research, we held some focus groups and brought these three things together and this is the end product.' Red telephone boxes first began appearing on London's streets during the 1920s. Since then, they've become as much a part of Britain as Big Ben and fish and chips - particularly to the capital's tourists. Despite British Telecom - who make the phone boxes - discontinuing the traditional design during the 1980s, they've still remained symbolic to this day. Divisive: Kirstey Kenney, co-founder of Solarbox said some people love the green while others hate it . According to Kenney, there are around 67,000 phone boxes in the UK and 8,000 in London. So how have people been reacting to the drastic change in colour? She says: 'I think the verdict is still out on the green.' As some smart phones take hours to charge rather than minutes, Kenney says the Solarbox wasn't built with a long stay in mind. Instead, it's intended for phone users desperate for a quick charge to make an important call. 'The whole of this in all our research was based on people who need that bit of extra juice to make an emergency phone call,' she says. Chargers: There are numerous charge points in each box and they need just three hours of sunlight per day . 'Or people who are in this busy area - which is a big through-way - who just want to take the opportunity to top up.' And despite the box's reliance on solar power, London's wet weather isn't set to put a dampener on any desperately-needed charging. According to Kenney, the Solarbox only needs three hours of sunlight a day to keep its inbuilt battery pumping out power. 'We need three hours of sunlight a day to operate all year round,' she says. Idea: Ms Kenney said the idea was initiated as modern phone battery life 'can't keep up the pace with our lives' 'And the reason that we only need so little sunlight is cause we've got an integrated battery. So, through the summer months or on the sunnier days that battery is storing all excess energy to be used throughout the year.' What does London's phone-using public make of the new addition to their streets? Engineer, Bhavesh Morar, has plugged in, but does he think it's a winner? 'Definitely, because I work as an engineer I'm always looking for charging points, so this is really a fantastic idea,' he says. 'A lot of these phone boxes, they're not used anyway. Everyone's got a mobile so it's a really good idea.' Solarbox hopes to launch a further six boxes around London in early 2015.
Telephone box is first ever be changed into a solar-powered phone charger .
Solarbox is located at exit three outside Tottenham Court Road Station .
Idea was developed by two graduates from London's School of Economics .
Solarbox hopes to launch a further six boxes around London in early 2015 .
Britain's iconic red telephone boxes have been given a modern makeover - as mobile phone chargers. Painted green and given a trendy logo, this is the UK's first landmark to be transformed into a solar-powered device. While many phone boxes in Britain's capital fall into disrepair, the Solarbox is giving them a much-needed boost. Green: The old telephone boxes are also being painted green to emphasise the greener economy . Placed outside exit three outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, the Solarbox is the work of two geography graduates from London's School of Economics who started the project in 2013. With the help of funding from a variety of schemes, they've created this new addition to London's streets. Kirsty Kenney, co-founder of Solarbox, said: 'Solarbox is turning London's disused telephone boxes into solar-powered charging points for mobile phones. The Solarbox was created by transforming a traditional London telephone box into a solar powered charger . 'The idea for Solarbox came about through three reasons really. 'The first is that phone boxes aren't used anymore. The second is modern phone battery life can't keep up the pace with our lives. And the third is there is nowhere really to charge your phones in the public realm. 'So we did some research, we held some focus groups and brought these three things together and this is the end product.' Red telephone boxes first began appearing on London's streets during the 1920s. Since then, they've become as much a part of Britain as Big Ben and fish and chips - particularly to the capital's tourists. Despite British Telecom - who make the phone boxes - discontinuing the traditional design during the 1980s, they've still remained symbolic to this day. Divisive: Kirstey Kenney, co-founder of Solarbox said some people love the green while others hate it . According to Kenney, there are around 67,000 phone boxes in the UK and 8,000 in London. So how have people been reacting to the drastic change in colour? She says: 'I think the verdict is still out on the green.' As some smart phones take hours to charge rather than minutes, Kenney says the Solarbox wasn't built with a long stay in mind. Instead, it's intended for phone users desperate for a quick charge to make an important call. 'The whole of this in all our research was based on people who need that bit of extra juice to make an emergency phone call,' she says. Chargers: There are numerous charge points in each box and they need just three hours of sunlight per day . 'Or people who are in this busy area - which is a big through-way - who just want to take the opportunity to top up.' And despite the box's reliance on solar power, London's wet weather isn't set to put a dampener on any desperately-needed charging. According to Kenney, the Solarbox only needs three hours of sunlight a day to keep its inbuilt battery pumping out power. 'We need three hours of sunlight a day to operate all year round,' she says. Idea: Ms Kenney said the idea was initiated as modern phone battery life 'can't keep up the pace with our lives' 'And the reason that we only need so little sunlight is cause we've got an integrated battery. So, through the summer months or on the sunnier days that battery is storing all excess energy to be used throughout the year.' What does London's phone-using public make of the new addition to their streets? Engineer, Bhavesh Morar, has plugged in, but does he think it's a winner? 'Definitely, because I work as an engineer I'm always looking for charging points, so this is really a fantastic idea,' he says. 'A lot of these phone boxes, they're not used anyway. Everyone's got a mobile so it's a really good idea.' Solarbox hopes to launch a further six boxes around London in early 2015.
into a solar-powered device. While many phone Placed outside exit three outside Tottenham Court Road Station in London, the Solarbox is the work of two geography graduates from London's School good idea.' Solarbox hopes to launch a further six boxes around London in early 2015.