One car powered by solar energy looks like a go-cart transporting large glass panels on its roof and in the back; the other resembles a spaceship from a science fiction movie. But as different as the appearance of each car constructed by Tottenville HS students is, their purpose is the same.

“The goal,” said teacher Charles Dazzo, “is empowering the students.”

Dazzo, a social studies teacher at Tottenville on Staten Island, teamed up four years ago with auto shop teacher Gerard D’Ambrosio to start the after-school Green Technology Club and its solar car team, the Solar Pirates.

At the Winston Solar Challenge in July, they teamed up to drive their new model nearly 400 miles over three days on the course that stretched from Fort Worth to Austin, Texas, finishing second in the Advanced Division and seventh overall.

But that accomplishment takes a back seat to the primary objective: making students college-ready.

“Green technology is an emerging field,” said D’Ambrosio, noting that four students from the club so far have gone to college for engineering.

Dazzo is a former union sheet-metal worker who went to college at 48 years old so that he could realize his dream of “helping kids.” He’s been teaching for 13 years.

Many of the students in the club have come from Dazzo’s Government and Green Technology or Economy and Green Technology classes, or D’Ambrosio’s automotive program. But the club has created so much buzz that some students are looking to get involved even before they are enrolled at Tottenville.

“I had friends in the club and I thought it sounded interesting and fun, so I wanted to be involved even before I got into the school,” said Joe Demarest, an 11th-grader. “I hope it leads to a future in electrical engineering or a solar green-energy program.”

The original car resembling a go-cart was designed by D’Ambrosio and Dazzo, but built by the students. (The students also run the club’s website at www.solar-pirates.com.) The large solar — or photovoltaic — panels, the kind installed on homes, connect with the three power trackers, which deliver charges for the five car batteries that power the motor.

The newer car is powered much the same way, except that it uses a lightweight, aerodynamic mold for the body that is covered with space-grade solar cells no thicker than a credit card, explains Lee Cabe, a former physics teacher at a public high school in Newburgh, N.Y., and a retired member of New York State United Teachers, who has become an adviser to Tottenville and other schools developing solar cars.

The original — which weighs about 1,000 pounds — can get up to 54 mph, D’Ambrosio said, while the newer car — made of Kevlar and carbon fiber and weighing just 550 pounds — tops out at 70 mph. Speed, however, is not as important as how far the car can travel.

That’s what determines who wins the annual Solar Challenge in Texas that Tottenville competes in each summer. The Solar Pirates are the only team from New York City that enters.

While 15 students are on the team, only eight get to make the trip. Three alternate as drivers, one serves as quartermaster (in charge of spare parts), one is the navigator and three are mechanics.

The drivers must use information from gauges inside the car to determine the driving strategy. “Depending on the sun, the wind and how they press on the accelerator will change the output,” D’Ambrosio said. “Sometimes driving faster will use less energy, for example.”

The biggest challenge is the expense involved.

“It costs $65,000 to build a car,” said Dazzo. The club has raised some of the money, but much of it has been donated by local businesses and community organizations.

Jim Imbro, who owns a local solar power business and sold the club the panels for the first car, got hooked on the excitement and volunteered to accompany the team to Texas.

“The students went as kids, and came back as men and women,” Imbro said. “It was fun to watch.”