Welcome back: The U.S. solar industry is feeling the pinch. Companies that were a beneficiary of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, now stand in more precarious territory amid a shift to climate-skeptical and protectionist policies under the Trump administration. Many are trimming earnings guidance and forecasting significant write-downs.

But amid this gloom, some good news. We report today that an Arizona-based solar tech company is partnering with a New Mexico-based advanced materials business to develop technology that could make solar panels a lot more efficient. The deal represents a rare lead for U.S. clean-tech innovation amid the dominance of China. See our story below.

We also highlight a startup set up by two Stanford graduates who have found a cheap way of pulling a key battery material from salty water hiding in plain sight. One of the main draws of the technology is that, unlike some alternative methods, it doesn’t require any custom materials, says the CEO.

Finally, there's good news for Ford too. The automaker had been concerned that some Biden era tax credits for EV batteries were to be withdrawn under the Trump megabill, but that threat appears now to have been lifted.  

Read on for more on these stories and other sustainability news.

Arizona-based solar-tech company First Solar has announced a long-term commercial partnership with New Mexico-based advanced-materials company UbiQD to accelerate the integration of a new nanotechnology into its solar panels in an effort to improve their efficiency. The deal marks the biggest move yet to scale the technology within the U.S. renewables sector, Don Nico Forbes writes for WSJ Pro Sustainable Business.

Quantum dots are microscopic spheres of semiconductor material that could potentially double the efficiency of devices converting sunlight into energy, according to the U.S. Energy Department. The next-generation solar tech captures a wider spectrum of sunlight than traditional panels, using what is known as the quantum confinement effect—essentially wringing more energy out of each photon.

After several years of lab testing, First Solar will begin adding a layer of UbiQD’s quantum dots to its thin film bifacial solar panels, with a commercial rollout set for late 2026. The dots will initially be used on the underside of each panel, where they will help to capture light bouncing off the ground (on the top side, light is already captured efficiently by the existing cells). In some cases, the dots can more than double the efficiency of this side of the panel, according to UbiQD.

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• Swiss Clean-Energy Startup Produces Diesel From Solar Power

California-based startup Electroflow Technologies wants to use battery cathodes to capture lithium ions directly from salty water.

Lithium is used in batteries that power electric vehicles and data centers. It's growing importance has sparked a race to develop new methods of siphoning it from brine. Investors are seeking ways to produce it faster and cheaper, and without the need to ship it to China, where most lithium is refined today, the WSJ's Rhiannon Hoyle reports.

Electroflow’s technology pulls battery-grade lithium from brine, according to the company. It has developed a way of turning that lithium into a cathode material, the company said. It reckons Electroflow could have the cheapest lithium-extraction process on the planet. The company has three patents pending.

The company raised $2.8 million in a pre-seed round last September, backed by Fifty Years, Harpoon Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Fellows and angel investor Leonardo Banchik. The fledgling company is preparing to add to that initial funding, readying a seed round for mid-July in which it aims to raise roughly $8 million.

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Ford Motor said it was “on track” to qualify for lucrative, Biden-era federal tax credits for electric-vehicle batteries it plans to make at a new, $3 billion plant in Michigan, even under President Trump’s new tax bill, the WSJ's Christopher Otts reports.

The final version of the tax bill softens restrictions on tax credits for projects that rely on “foreign entities of concern,” such as China. The automaker’s chairman had said the under-construction factory was “imperiled” because an earlier version of the “big, beautiful bill” would have rendered the factory ineligible for credits because of Ford’s reliance on a Chinese partner.

Ford is licensing technology from leading Chinese battery maker CATL for the cells it will make at the plant, as well as for the plant’s production process. Ford has argued that it would take years for it to develop the low-cost battery cells on its own, while cheaper batteries are urgently needed to bring EV prices down and accelerate sales.

• Megabill Gives Chinese EV Makers a Boost, Says Auto Group Head
• An Ex-Tesla Engineer Is Turning EVs Into Affordable Family Cars
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• China is building 74% of all current solar and wind projects. (FT)
   
• J.P. Morgan pilots blockchain for carbon markets. (ESG News)
   
• Google holds to 2030 net-zero goal despite big emissions hike. (Trellis)
   
• Amazon releases waste diversion metrics as part of sustainability plan. (ESG Dive)
   
• Underwater turbine spinning for 6 years off Scotland’s coast is a breakthrough for tidal energy. (AP)
   
• Phlair, Carbon Removal to develop largest DAC carbon removal project in Europe. (ESG Today)
   
• U.S. issues expedited permit for proposed Tennessee coal mine. (Reuters)
   
• The U.S. has more copper than China but no way to refine all of it. (Bloomberg)
   
• China’s carbon emissions may have peaked. (Economist)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.