During an eclipse scientist are able to measure the effect of the sun on the Earth's atmosphere and observe the violent magnetic storms in outer atmosphere of the sun - the corona.

BBC: 11 August

Solar panels use light energy from the sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect.

BBC: Bristol and Bath Science Park gets new solar roof panels

Natural processes involving changes in the Sun could have at least as powerful an effect on global temperature as increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

BBC: Viewpoint: The Sun and climate change

Every 20 to 30 years, the much colder water near the bottom of the oceans cycles up to the top, where it has a slight cooling effect on global temperatures until the sun warms that water.

FORBES: To The Horror Of Global Warming Alarmists, Global Cooling Is Here

While ice reflects around 80 percent of the sun's heat, having a cooling effect, blue sea water can absorb up to 95 percent of solar radiation, warming up the sea and accelerating the melting process further.

CNN: Arctic melt worse than predictions

If one body is much larger than its neighbours, such as the sun compared with the planets of the solar system, its effect dominates the others.

ECONOMIST: Cosmology

Viewed from ten light-years away, the sun's side-to-side astrometric wobble due to the effect of the earth is just one millionth of an arcsecond, or a twentieth of the tiniest angle that the Keck will be able to measure.

ECONOMIST: A roadmap for planet-hunting

But the slowdown is not yet having any effect on what all the estate agents report to be a record-breaking period for sun-starved Britons buying houses in Europe, cashing in on a strong domestic economy and the weakness of the euro.

ECONOMIST: Hot property