We have studied the statistical properties of the energy of individual acoustic modes , extracted from 310 days of GOLF data near the solar minimum .
The exponential distribution of the energy of each mode is clearly seen .
The modes are found to be uncorrelated with a \pm 0.6 \% accuracy , thus supporting the hypothesis of stochastic excitation by the solar convection . Nevertheless , the same analysis performed on the same modes just before the solar maximum , using IPHIR data , rejects the hypothesis of no correlation at a 99.3 \% confidence level . A simple model suggests that 31.3 \pm 9.4 \% of the energy of each mode is coherent among the modes studied in IPHIR data , correponding to a mean correlation of 10.7 \pm 5.9 \% .