A brushless alternator includes a stationary field winding, a rotor, a stator, a rectifier, a terminal, and a protective resistor. The stationary field winding creates a magnetic flux. The rotor creates a rotating magnetic field with the magnetic flux created by the field winding. The stator includes three different-phase windings to generate a three-phase AC power in the rotating magnetic field created by the rotor. The rectifier rectifies the three-phase AC power generated by the stator into a DC power. The terminal is provided so that AC power generated by one of the three windings of the stator can be output from the alternator to external through the terminal. The protective resistor is electrically connected between the terminal and the one of the three windings of the stator to protect the alternator from electrical damage.