Multilevel inverter (MLI) has become more popular in high power, high voltage industries owing to its high quality output voltage waveform. This paper proposes a novel single phase extendable type MLI topology. The term ‘extendable’ is included since the presented topology can be extended with maximum number of dc voltage sources to synthesize larger output levels. This topology can be operated in both symmetrical and asymmetrical conditions. The major advantages of the proposed inverter topology include minimum switching components, reduced gate driver circuits, less harmonic distortion and reduced switching losses. The comparative analysis based on the number of switches, dc voltage sources and conduction switches between the proposed topology and other existing topologies is presented in this paper. The comparison results show that the proposed inverter topology requires fewer components. The performance of the proposed MLI topology has been analyzed in both symmetrical and asymmetrical conditions. The simulation model is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK software to verify the performance of the proposed inverter topology and also the feasibility of the presented topology during the symmetrical condition has been validated experimentally.