In this paper a single-phase Cascaded H-Bridge (CHB) inverter for photovoltaic (PV) applications is presented. Based on the presented mathematical analysis, a novel controller is introduced which adjusts the inverter power factor (PF) and manipulates the distribution of the reactive power between the cells to enhance the operating range of the CHB inverter. The adopted control strategy enables tracking of the maximum power point (MPP) of distinct PV strings and allows independent control of the dc-link voltages. The proposed controller also enables the inverter to operate under heavily unbalanced PV conditions. The performance of the CHB inverter and the proposed controllers are evaluated in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. A seven-level CHB-based grid connected laboratory prototype is also utilized to verify the system performance.