[suhn-lahyt] 
| the light of the sun; sunshine. |
| sun·light (sŭn'līt') n. The light of the sun; sunshine. |
sunlight
solar radiation that is visible at the Earth's surface. The amount of sunlight is dependent on the extent of the daytime cloud cover. Some places on the Earth receive more than 4,000 hours per year of sunlight (more than 90 percent of the maximum possible), as in the Sahara; others receive less than 2,000 hours, as in regions of frequent storminess, such as Scotland and Iceland. Over much of the middle-latitude region of the world, the amount of sunlight varies regularly as the day progresses, owing to greater cloud cover in the early morning and during the late afternoon.
Learn more about sunlight with a free trial on Britannica.com.
