A new pilot has begun in Poland, Italy, France and the UK to trial the use of energy-efficient parcel lockers from InPost that rely solely on photovoltaic panels and energy storage.
The new Paczkomat machine, which can be installed anywhere regardless of the availability of the electricity grid without losing any of the functionality of a standard locker, has been installed in Gdansk and Krakow, as well Florence, Italy and London, UK. Nine lockers are to be installed as part of the trial in Lille, France, later this month.
As part of the pilot, ‘mother machines’ are also being erected – connected to the power grid – which recharge batteries to power standalone machines in the event of bad weather.
The lockers also include additional options to optimize energy consumption such as reducing the machine’s lighting to 30% of its output after dusk, and at night the parcel locker can be entirely switched off when not in use.
“The autonomous parcel locker is another innovation of the InPost Group,” said Izabela Karolczyk-Szafrańska, InPost’s group chief marketing and ESG officer. “These state-of-the-art machines can now be placed in locations previously impossible due to lack of access to the power grid. The new machines make our network more accessible to as many customers as possible. This is another step in implementing our ambitious decarbonization strategy.
“It is worth noting that we will run the pilot simultaneously in four European countries, which will give us a unique insight into the possibilities of expanding the network of autonomous machines in countries with different weather conditions.”