AbstractIn this paper, a reduced switch count single‐phase hybrid multilevel inverter (MLI) is presented. Level generation unit (LGU) and polarity changing unit (PCU) are the two parts of the presented topology which are connected in series. Other advantages of the proposed topology include the reduced switch count, higher level generation with reduced sources and the possibility of higher‐level generation with lower component counts. A single unit produces an output voltage of 13 levels with the modulation techniques as selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) to improve harmonics. The use of selective harmonic elimination (SHM) is made to improve harmonics. The logical generation unit carries a series connection of multiple switched dc voltage sources with half and full‐bridge configurations. The proposed topology is verified by a hardware bench setup as well as in simulations which are developed in Simulink/MATLAB® environment.