A control apparatus for a vehicle generator includes a switch, a
regulator, a fault condition detector, and a PWM signal generator. The
switch is selectively turned on and off so as to intermittently excite
the generator. The regulator controls on/off operation of the switch so
as to bring an output of the generator into agreement with a target
value. The fault condition detector detects a fault condition of the
generator. The PWM signal generator generates and outputs a PWM signal
that has a duty determined as a function of a duty of the on/off
operation of the switch and a frequency determined based on if the fault
condition of the generator is detected by the fault condition detector.
Consequently, the control apparatus can inform an external control
apparatus of the duty of the on/off operation of the switch and the fault
condition of the generator with the single PWM signal.