  We study the behaviour and properties of the solar wind using a 2.5D Alfv\'en
wave driven wind model. We first systematically compare the results of an
Alfv\'en wave (AW) driven wind model with a polytropic approach. Polytropic
magnetohydrodynamic wind models are thermally driven, while Alfv\'en waves act
as additional acceleration and heating mechanisms in the Alfv\'en wave driven
model. We confirm that an AW-driven model is required to reproduce the observed
bimodality of slow and fast solar winds. We are also able to reproduce the
observed anti-correlation between the terminal wind velocity and the coronal
source temperature with the AW-driven wind model. We also show that the wind
properties along an eleven-year cycle differ significantly from one model to
the other. The AW-driven model again shows the best agreement with
observational data. Indeed, solar surface magnetic field topology plays an
important role in the Alfv\'en wave driven wind model, as it enters directly
into the input energy sources via the Poynting flux. On the other hand, the
polytropic wind model is driven by an assumed pressure gradient; thus it is
relatively less sensitive to the surface magnetic field topology. Finally, we
note that the net torque spinning down the Sun exhibits the same trends in the
two models, showing that the polytropic approach still captures correctly the
essence of stellar winds.
