A power conversion system comprising a plurality of power stages (100-1, 100-2, 100-3, 100-4, 100-5, 100-6) connected in series to form a multilevel inverter circuit for connection to a load, the power stages individually comprising: a DC link circuit including at least one capacitance coupled between first and second DC link nodes (131, 132), a switching circuit including a plurality of switching devices (Q1-Q4) coupled between the DC link circuit and an output, the switching circuit operative according to a plurality of switching control signals to provide an output voltage (VOUT) having an amplitude of one of at least two discrete levels at the output, at least one DC link control switch coupled between the first DC link node and a rectifier, the at least one DC link control switch operative in a first state to allow current to flow between the first DC link node and a first DC node of the rectifier, in a second state to prevent current from flowing between the first DC link node and the first DC node of the rectifier; a bypass switch coupled across the output of the switching circuit, the bypass switch operative in a nonconductive state and a conductive state to bypass the output of the switching circuit; and a controller coupled to control the at least one DC link control switch and the bypass switch of at least one of the plurality of power stages, characterized in that: the at least one DC link control switch is operative in the second state to prevent current from flowing into the at least one capacitance; and the controller is operative to selectively bypass the at least one power stage by placing the at least one DC link control switch in the second state at a first time and placing the bypass switch in the conductive state at a second time after the first time, wherein the controller is adapted to control the difference between the second time and the first time based on a value of the at least one capacitance. a DC link circuit including at least one capacitance coupled between first and second DC link nodes (131, 132), a switching circuit including a plurality of switching devices (Q1-Q4) coupled between the DC link circuit and an output, the switching circuit operative according to a plurality of switching control signals to provide an output voltage (VOUT) having an amplitude of one of at least two discrete levels at the output, at least one DC link control switch coupled between the first DC link node and a rectifier, the at least one DC link control switch operative in a first state to allow current to flow between the first DC link node and a first DC node of the rectifier, in a second state to prevent current from flowing between the first DC link node and the first DC node of the rectifier; a bypass switch coupled across the output of the switching circuit, the bypass switch operative in a nonconductive state and a conductive state to bypass the output of the switching circuit; and a controller coupled to control the at least one DC link control switch and the bypass switch of at least one of the plurality of power stages, characterized in that: the at least one DC link control switch is operative in the second state to prevent current from flowing into the at least one capacitance; and the controller is operative to selectively bypass the at least one power stage by placing the at least one DC link control switch in the second state at a first time and placing the bypass switch in the conductive state at a second time after the first time, wherein the controller is adapted to control the difference between the second time and the first time based on a value of the at least one capacitance. the at least one DC link control switch is operative in the second state to prevent current from flowing into the at least one capacitance; and the controller is operative to selectively bypass the at least one power stage by placing the at least one DC link control switch in the second state at a first time and placing the bypass switch in the conductive state at a second time after the first time, wherein the controller is adapted to control the difference between the second time and the first time based on a value of the at least one capacitance.