Howdy, Boceph, nice to see you again. Although anecdotal claims abound, the Sun is not getting brighter (see contadictory addendum below). I think there's lots of reasons for this perception; not the least of which is the fact that we humans spend much less time outdoors and more time staring at computer screens these days. Also, during the Northern hemisphere winter months the sun is much lower in the sky, shining more at eye-level than directly overhead as in summertime. Today's UV Index was very low throughout most of the continental US (high UV in Miami, Puerto Rico and Hawaii)-

[link to www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov]

However Earth is getting closer to the sun now. Not to worry, it happens every year. Earth's perihelion is on January 2, 2013, but as Earth's orbit is very circular we're only a slight bit closer than aphelion in July.
[link to aa.usno.navy.mil]

2013 2013
Perihelion Jan 2 05 Equinoxes Mar 20 11 02 Sept 22 20 44
Aphelion July 5 15 Solstices June 21 05 04 Dec 21 17 11


TOTAL SOLAR IRRADIANCE-

Here's a plot from several satellites measuring Total Solar Irradiance (that includes visible and invisible wavelengths)-
[link to www.acrim.com]

For further study, here's NOAA's data access page on irradiance;

[link to www.ngdc.noaa.gov]

This is a good time to get as much sunshine as you can! Vitamin D levels tend to drop in wintertime and weakens your immune system.