[6][7] Peng's earlier innovations with cascaded multilevel inverters to flexible ac transmission system during the 1990s allowed for transformerless operations to reach utility-scale voltage levels and power ratings.

The innovation has been incorporated worldwide and helped in avoiding costs, power loss, bulkiness, and failure issues encountered with traditional multiphase inverters.

[5] Peng was elevated to the Fellow of IEEE in 2005 under the "Research Engineer/Scientist" category, with the citation mentioning "for contributions to multilevel power converter topology, control, and applications".

"[11] In the same year, he was officially inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for demonstrating innovation in creating or facilitating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of the society.

[12][13] In 2025 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering "for contributions to the development of high-power electronics technologies for advanced power grid control and energy conversion.