This document analyzes past and present Federal incentives to production of various energy sources in order to assist in the study and recommendation of Federal incentives for the development of solar energy. The document was divided into five parts: a survey of current thought about incentives for solar energy production; the theoretical approach to analyzing and characterizing incentives; a generic view of the energy incentive-creating landscape for 1976; analysis of the major energy sources (nuclear, hydro, coal, oil, and gas) along their trajectories from exploration to waste management, including their costs in 1976 dollars; and insights into potential incentives for solar policy.