MANILA, Philippines ? Looking like a flat jet aircraft, the country's second solar-powered car hit the road of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on Wednesday.

A team of 33 students and teachers of the mechanical and the electronics and communications engineering department of the De La Salle University designed and created the car, which they named ?Sikat (Sunrise).?

Sikat is an offshoot and an improved version of ?Sinag (Rays of the Sun),? the first ever solar-powered car in the Philippines launched in 2007.

Charles Tan, a sophomore student at De La Salle, said they tried to fix Sinag's flaws by making the car light and small. ?Sinag is bulky and tall. This one's lightness makes it run fast,? he said.

Sikat stands 1.1 meters, one-third of Sinag's height.

Tan described Sikat as user-friendly as its steering has been made easier through the adjusted steering column.

Jeffrey Yu, a mechanical engineering student, said he applied ?the principle of aerodynamics of airplanes? in designing the solar car. He explained that the car's speed was faster because of less air resistance.

It took the team half a year to finish the whole project with the help of the Sunpower Corp, Ford Philippines, Pilipinas Shell, and Motolite.

The students and teachers brainstormed about Sinag's improvement during the first half of 2009.

Jong Jimenez, SunPower's director for quality assurance, said the solar car has been made to harness the power of the sun and convert it into energy.

?We don't have to use fossil fuels because solar panels on the car's surface recharge energy when exposed to sunlight,? he said.

Each solar cell on Sikat's surface can generate a peak power of 3.3 watts.

Although a solar car is priced at around P5 million, the savings one gets from using diesel and gasoline could accumulate through time, Jimenez said.

He added that the government must support the use of solar energy as alternative to fossil fuels especially in times of global warming because solar cars would not emit smoke, which could harm the environment and contribute to climate change.

Ford Philippines chairman Henry Co said those excited about the solar car, however, would have to wait two decades for it to become commercially viable. ?But it has to start somewhere.?

Co said creating solar vehicles has been in line with Ford's longtime program on sustainable mobility.

?Who knows, the Philippines might go far on this one... We have a lot of sun here compared to other countries,? he quipped.