The Z-source inverter (ZSI) provides unique features such as the ability to boost dc voltage with a single stage simple structure. Although the dc capacitor voltage can be boosted by a shoot-through state, the voltage stress across the switching devices is rapidly increased, so high switching device power is required at the ZSI. In this paper, algorithms for minimizing the voltage stress are suggested. The possible operating region for obtaining a desired ac output voltage according to both the shoot-through time and active state time is investigated. The reference capacitor voltages are derived for minimizing the voltage stress at any desired ac output voltage by considering the dc input voltage. The proposed methods are carried out through the simulation studies and experiments with 32-bit DSP.