  In the present work we utilize ACE/SWICS in-situ measurements of the
properties of the solar wind outside ICMEs in order to determine whether, and
to what extent are the solar wind properties affected by the solar cycle. We
focus on proton temperatures and densities, ion temperatures and differential
speeds, charge state distributions and both relative and absolute elemental
abundances. We carry out this work dividing the wind in velocity bins to
investigate how winds at different speeds react to the solar cycle. We also
repeat this study, when possible, to the subset of SWICS measurements less
affected by Coulomb collisions. We find that with the only exception of
differential speeds (for which we do not have enough measurements) all wind
properties change as a function of the solar cycle. Our results point towards a
scenario where both the slow and fast solar wind are accelerated by waves, but
originate from different sources (open/closed magnetic structures for the
fast/slow wind, respectively) whose relative contribution changes along the
solar cycle. We also find that the signatures of heating and acceleration on
one side, and of the FIP effect on the other, indicate that wave-based plasma
heating, acceleration and fractionation remain active throughout the solar
cycle, but decrease their effectiveness in all winds, although the slow wind is
much affected than the fast one.
