<p>A novel three-input switched capacitor–based inverter for PV applications is proposed considering the concept of multilevel topology. The first stage is a multi-input cascaded connected DC/DC converter. It has the features of providing a common DC link, boosting the input PV voltage, auto-balancing the DC-link capacitors, and soft-switching operating capability for all devices. The back-end stage is a DC/AC inverter with multi-level operation. It has the ability to generate seven-level waveforms considering a minimum number of switches with reduced voltage stresses. Furthermore, the proposed topology offers higher efficiency, lower total harmonic distortion (THD), lower cost, and a simpler control strategy. The circuit topology, operating principles, self-balancing voltage mechanism, component size optimization, and soft-switching analysis are presented. Additionally, the performance is compared against the recently proposed seven-level single-phase topologies, considering the number of passive and active devices and total peak inverse voltage. Finally, the operation concept and theoretical analysis are confirmed through simulation studies, and a laboratory prototype is built to demonstrate that the practical implications are feasible and effective.</p>