Solar Panel Control Boxes

I got turned on today.  In the '60's that meant something totally different.  Today it means that Xcel Energy and Olson Solar Energy rep Cody came out to turn the switch on for the solar array.  First they checked that if the power goes out, the solar array shuts off too.   You don't want power in a transmission line when some electrician is trying to fix a problem.  Then they locked the new solar power boxes  - system is turn-key - and the Xcel guy took off.  Cody stayed to set me up w/ an app on my computer which will show the amount of power I'm using vs. the amount of power the solar array is producing in multiple types of graphs.  He answered my questions like "What documentation do I need for my taxes next year?"  Next January the firm would send the form the IRS wants w/ the data filled in for me.  He let me know that they would also submit my application for money from my state's incentive program for alternate energy production.  He'd told me about it last year when we'd first talked but I'd forgotten about the program.  "How do I read the new electrical meter?"  Well, it was actually the Xcel guy that showed me that before he left.  I told him when I have guests I'm going to send them out to watch the meter for entertainment.   No one could answer the question "Why don't birds perch atop the array?"  I'm very glad not to clean bird poop off so far but I wondered if it was the pitch, the material, or perhaps the expanse of blackness that kept them at bay.  Then we talked about the status of battery backup for a future upgrade.  He said they just got some high tech, less expensive backup systems but he knew in the near future they would be coming out w/ solid state backup systems.  I didn't want the brand new stuff.  Years of installing hardware/software updates taught me never to get something brand new - wait until the bugs are worked out.  Plus solid state over lithium batteries sounds better.  Then Cody left.  Some of my graphs aren't yet working - not enough data yet.  If there is a problem Cody assured me they would be monitoring my system for the next week to see if there were issues.  I'm kinda impressed that for an overcast day that started out at 10 a.m. when the power was turned on, the little array managed to produce well over 100 kWh of power on it's birthday.