Four decades have gone by since the discovery that the solar wind at 1 AU seems to exist in two relatively distinct states: slow and fast. There is still no universal agreement concerning the primary physical cause of this apparently bimodal distribution, even in its simplest manifestation at solar minimum. In this presentation we review and extend a series of ideas that link the different stat...

Solar energy is an important source of renewable energy that can be harnessed using a range of evolving technologies such as solar heating, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal energy, solar architecture and artificial photosynthesis. The harnessed solar energy can be used in a wide range of applications like electricity production, fuel production, agriculture planning, water heating, transport, ...

Shock heating and particle acceleration processes are some of the most fundamental physical phenomena of plasma physics with countless applications in laboratory physics, space physics, and astrophysics. This study is motivated by previous observations of non-thermal heating of heavy ions in astrophysical shocks (Korreck et al. 2004). Here, we focus on shocks driven by Interplanetary Coronal Ma...

We quantify the scaling of magnetic energy density in the inertial range of solar-wind turbulence seen in situ at 1 AU with respect to solar activity. At solar maximum, when the coronal magnetic field is dynamic and topologically complex, we find self-similar scaling in the solar wind, whereas at solar minimum, when the coronal fields are more ordered, we find multifractality. This quantifies t...

One of the biggest obstacles to economic profitability of solar water heating systems is the investment cost. Retrofitting existing domestic hot water heaters when a new solar hot water system is installed can reduce both the installation and material costs. In this study, retrofitting existing water heaters for solar water heating systems in Swedish single-family houses was theoretically inves...

We investigate possibilities of solar coronal heating by acoustic waves generated not at the photosphere but in the corona, aiming at heating in the midto low-latitude corona where the low-speed wind is expected to come from. Acoustic waves of period τ ∼ 100s are triggered by chromospheric reconnection, one model of small scale magnetic reconnection events recently proposed by Sturrock. These w...

We investigate possibilities of solar coronal heating by acoustic waves generated not at the photosphere but in the corona, aiming at heating in the midto low-latitude corona where the low-speed wind is expected to come from. Acoustic waves of period τ ∼ 100s are triggered by chromospheric reconnection, one model of small scale magnetic reconnection events recently proposed by Sturrock. These w...

In Paper I, we introduced and tested a method for predicting solar active region coronal emissions using magnetic field measurements and a chosen heating relationship. Here, we apply this forward-modeling technique to 10 active regions observed with the Mees Solar Observatory Imaging Vector Magnetograph and the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope. We produce synthetic images of each region using four p...

This paper introduces the functioning principle as well as dimensioning elements of a new active solar heating system using air as heat carrier. The air is heated in flat-plate collectors and then circulated through the building walls having circulation “hollows”. The heat storage function is performed by a rockbed storage unit. The solar collectors have water-air double service and supply the ...