Solar Maximums are times when our Sun is in a maximum activity state. There will be large numbers of sunspots, flares and prominences.
Prominences are loops of magnetic fields with hot gas trapped inside.
Sometimes, as the fields become unstable, the they will erupt and rise off of the Sun in just a few minutes or hours. Beautiful prominences like these become more common as we approach solar maximum. Possible communication blackouts, satellite problems, electrical interruption, weather changes, auroras. There appears to be an 11 year cycle for peak sunspot activity. While the exact naure of Sunspots is not known, there has been much research done.