In this study, the most common multilevel inverter topologies and control schemes have been reviewed. Multilevel inverter topologies (MLIs) are increasingly being used in medium and high power applications due to their many advantages such as low power dissipation on power switches, low harmonic contents and low electromagnetic interference (EMI) outputs. The selected switching technique to control the inverter will also have an effective role on harmonic elimination while generating the ideal output voltage. Intensive studies have been performed on carrier-based, sinusoidal, space vector and sigma delta PWM methods in open loop control of inverters. The selection of topology and control techniques may vary according to power demands of inverter. This paper and review results constitute a useful basis for matching of inverter topology and the best control scheme according to various application areas. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.