Although I haven't studied the grid-tie inverters terribly much (and micro-inverters even less so), the simplest approach to ensure power isn't injected into the grid during outtages (backfeeding the grid and creating an electrocution risk for line crews and neighbors) is to simply skip a half-to-full-cycle every few seconds to sample the utility power and verify that the grid is still live. If no grid voltage is detected during this 1/120 to 1/60 second interval, then the inverter would simply shutdown until such time as grid voltage is once again detected (for some pre-defined minimum period).
As for phase syncrhonization, that is a very trivial task for an inverter, you merely need a timing lock (PLL or otherwise, 60hz isn't a difficult frequency for a modern crystal-locked microcontroller to maintain with regular resync intervals) synchronized to the utility's grid, which you can easily resync with at the zero crossover during your already necessary half-cycle pause to verify a live grid.
Any higher-end online UPS (such as those backing up my servers) will do this already since they regularly have to take up precisely where the utility leaves off during power interruptions and transients. Cheaper UPS's, however, don't bother with synchronization since they don't activate until some number of milliseconds after power is lost -- they just allow the end-device's power supply deal with the distortions and harmonics momentarily created by the transfer event.
I'm sure there are others who can think up more novel ways to sense utility power loss, but the above is by far the simplest (and likely cheapest) way to do so since there is no penalty for a micro-inverter to skip a half-to-full AC cycle every few seconds.
I'm not an EE either -- would have been if health hadn't force me to withdraw from college 3 times. I am, however, a very avid electronics enthusiast (and have been since age 8). Though, woodworking has been monopolizing my time lately.
As for claiming the awning is a 200-watt panel -- only if you build your house in the middle of a laboratory! Aside from the curvature of the awning (which is only optimal at noon local time), I don't know of to many homes with suitable locations for awnings which have been optimally desined for maximum solar capture! You might conceivably get 200-watts if the awning is optimally placed over a door/window on an unobstructed southern wall finished with highly-polished stainless steel for an exterior siding.