Surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) ozone generators are a promising technology for industrial water treatment as wellas air purification; however, they are under-studied. In this experimental study, three types of AC voltage waveforms (triangular,rectangular and sinusoidal) are compared to ozone generation and energy performance in the SDBD reactor. The optimal waveformwas triangular, with an ozone concentration of 12 mg/L and an efficiency of 120 g/kWh. The second was the sinusoidal waveform(120 mg/L and 95 g/kWh, respectively). The most typical was the square waveform, with the rectangular one less effective. The optimum operating conditions are as follows (by response surface methodology (RSM)): V = 7.84 kV, f = 202.86 Hz (η = 114.76g/kWh) and V = 8.99 kV, f = 849.7 Hz (OC = 132.163 mg/L). This study highlights the importance of optimal waveform selection and systematic parameter tuning to improve ozone generation performance while minimising energy consumption for practical industrial SDBD applications.