The , solar forecast map shows areas where the most/least sunshine is expected for the current day. Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun.

On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the atmosphere, and the solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon. This is usually during the hours known as day. Near the poles in summer, sunlight also occurs during the hours known as night and in the winter at the poles sunlight may not occur at any time. When the direct radiation is not blocked by clouds, it is experienced as sunshine, a combination of bright light and heat. Radiant heat directly produced by the radiation of the sun is different from the increase in atmospheric temperature due to the radiative heating of the atmosphere by the sun's radiation. Sunlight may be recorded using a sunshine recorder. The World Meteorological Organization defines sunshine as direct irradiance from the Sun measured on the ground of at least 120 W-m−2.