So I've been dicking around in a round completely alone, and have a small handle on how solars work.
1: They start unwired, so adding the wires links them to the grid.
2: They start uncalibrated, you can set them to 'auto' to follow the sun.
3: The SMES (giant battery) starts uncalibrated. The SMES has a power threshold and output. If it receives more than X current, it begins storing, if it needs more than Y it starts discharging. I don't know entirely how it works. I do know that if the power ever reaches 0%, they break and someone has to go manually reset them to start sending energy again. Instead, I got some wire cutters and simply rerouted power around the SMES, and into the main grid.
Routing solars into the main grid is slightly unstable, there's no buffer of battery to keep the station fed while the solars are eventually, temporarily dark. However it requires entirely less upkeep or knowing what you're doing, and the APC in each room will suffice for keeping rooms lit during non-peak energy times. Due to the way the solars are arranged, 2 panels are on the same effective side, and will shut down together, which drops power by half, so during these times certain high-energy areas can deplete their APC for a time. However in casual use, they should never suffer real drops of power.
I've also learned that, in a pinch, you can replace an APC's power cell if you have engineering access/PDA, and instal a fully charged cell, letting you run machines via a battery. This may be just enough to get atmospherics working again, keep medical bay functioning, keep Escape powered, or especially useful when handling newly constructed bases and/or refurbished derelicts, where you may want to run a protolathe briefly by bringing your own power.
Ghetto power, get used to it.