Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Real-Time Control of Grid-Forming Inverters: Embedding Physical System Laws into Deep Learning Architectures

Abstract

The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources in inverter-dominated microgrids introduces significant challenges for maintaining voltage and frequency stability under weak-grid and dynamically varying operating conditions. Conventional inverter control strategies, including droop control and virtual synchronous machine (VSM) methods, often exhibit limited adaptability and degraded transient performance under renewable intermittency and uncertain load variations. This paper proposes a physics-informed neural-network (PINN)-based supervisory framework for real-time grid-forming inverter control. The proposed approach embeds swing-equation dynamics, Kirchhoff-based electrical constraints, and stability-aware objectives directly into the neural-network optimization process to improve physical consistency, robustness, and operational reliability. The controller is trained offline and deployed for low-latency online inference on an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier embedded platform. Simulation and hardware-in-the-loop validation results demonstrate improved transient stability, reduced frequency deviation, enhanced voltage regulation, and superior robustness compared with conventional droop, VSM, and purely data-driven neural-network controllers. The proposed framework achieved an average inference latency of approximately 0.7 ms while maintaining stable operation under renewable intermittency, load disturbances, and weak-grid conditions. The results demonstrate the potential of physics-informed machine learning for supervisory real-time control of inverter-dominated microgrids and intelligent renewable energy systems.