Systems
Monitoring & Control
See and command every system, in one place.
Monitoring & Control is the layer that ties a vessel's or vehicle's electrical and mechanical systems together behind one interface — showing the state of batteries, tanks, charging and circuits, and letting you switch and manage them remotely.
At the centre of most installations is the NMEA 2000 backbone — a standardised network that lets sensors, displays and devices from different manufacturers share data on a common bus. Battery monitors report state of charge, current and voltage; level and tank sensors report fuel, water and waste; instrumentation feeds engine, environmental and navigation data onto the same network. Rather than reading a wall of individual gauges, the operator sees a coherent picture on one display, an app, or both. PowerSol supplies the building blocks for this approach — NMEA 2000 monitoring and instrumentation from Maretron, battery monitors and energy data from Victron Energy, and tank and level sensing from Wema — alongside the mounts and deck hardware from Scanstrut needed to install displays and antennas cleanly.
Digital switching changes how circuits are wired and operated. Instead of running heavy cabling from every switch to every load, digital switching uses the network to command solid-state or relay outputs close to the loads themselves, cutting wiring runs and adding programmable logic, dimming and remote control. Combined with monitoring, it lets an installer build scenes, alarms and conditional behaviour — for example, load-shedding non-essential circuits as battery state of charge falls. The trade-off is more upfront design work and a dependence on a healthy network, so backbone topology, termination and power budgeting matter from the outset.
These systems suit both marine and mobile (overland) builds, where space, weight and the number of subsystems make a unified interface genuinely useful. The right specification depends on which standard your existing or planned equipment speaks, how much you want to monitor versus actively control, and whether you need data accessible remotely. Matching components within a coherent ecosystem — and confirming compatibility across brands on the NMEA 2000 bus — is the difference between a system that simply works and one that needs constant attention.
How to choose
- Decide first whether you need monitoring only, or monitoring plus control. Monitors and sensors give visibility; digital switching adds remote operation and programmable logic but requires more planning and a robust network.
- Confirm the network standard your equipment uses. NMEA 2000 lets devices from different brands share data on one bus — check that any monitor, sensor or display you add is compatible before mixing manufacturers.
- Plan the NMEA 2000 backbone properly. Correct topology, termination, drop-cable lengths and power budgeting determine whether the network is reliable; under-specifying the backbone causes intermittent faults that are hard to trace later.
- Choose battery monitors and sensors to match your bank chemistry and tank set-up. A monitor's value comes from accurate state-of-charge data, so it must be configured for the battery type, and level senders must suit the tank shape and medium being measured.
- Consider remote access early. If you want to view or control systems from a phone or shore, specify components and gateways that expose data to an app from the start rather than retrofitting connectivity afterwards.
Brands
Monitoring & Control brands
Victron Energy
Blue Power. Anytime. Anywhere.
About Victron Energy →Maretron
One interface to monitor and control the whole vessel.
About Maretron →MPower
Scalable DC digital switching over NMEA 2000.
About MPower →Scanstrut
300+ mounts, waterproof charging & Satcom solutions.
About Scanstrut →Wema
Stainless level sensors and instruments.
About Wema →Monitoring & Control — FAQs
What is NMEA 2000 and why does it matter for monitoring?
NMEA 2000 is a standardised network protocol that lets sensors, displays and devices from different manufacturers exchange data on a single backbone cable. It matters because it allows you to combine battery monitors, tank senders, instrumentation and displays — potentially from different brands — into one coherent system instead of isolated gauges.
What is the difference between monitoring and digital switching?
Monitoring is about visibility — battery monitors, level sensors and instrumentation report what each system is doing. Digital switching is about control — it commands outputs over the network so you can operate circuits remotely, dim lighting, build scenes and add conditional logic such as automatic load-shedding. Many builds use both together.
Can I mix brands like Victron, Maretron and Wema on one system?
Devices that speak NMEA 2000 are designed to share data on a common bus, so components from different manufacturers can generally coexist. The key is confirming each device's compatibility and configuring the network correctly. We recommend checking the intended combination before purchase so the system behaves as expected.
Are these systems suitable for overland and mobile builds, not just boats?
Yes. The same monitoring and control components are widely used in mobile and overland applications, where multiple subsystems, limited space and weight constraints make a single unified interface particularly valuable. The selection logic — standard, monitoring versus control, and remote access — is the same.