  We investigate the characteristics and the sources of the slow (< 450 km/s)
solar wind during the four years (2006-2009) of low solar activity between
Solar Cycles 23 and 24. We use a comprehensive set of in-situ observations in
the near-Earth solar wind (Wind and ACE) and remove the periods when
large-scale interplanetary coronal mass ejections were present. The
investigated period features significant variations in the global coronal
structure, including the frequent presence of low-latitude active regions in
2006-2007, long-lived low- and mid-latitude coronal holes in 2006 - mid-2008
and mostly the quiet Sun in 2009. We examine both Carrington Rotation averages
of selected solar plasma, charge state and compositional parameters and
distributions of these parameters related to Quiet Sun, Active Region Sun and
the Coronal Hole Sun. While some of the investigated parameters (e.g., speed,
the C^{+6}/C^{+4} and He/H ratio) show clear variations over our study period
and with solar wind source type, some (Fe/O) exhibit very little changes. Our
results highlight the difficulty in distinguishing between the slow solar wind
sources based on the inspection of the solar wind conditions.
