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One of the reasons why there appears to be no good explanation for the link between sunspot activity and climate is that the answer is staring them in the face. It's this....what happens to the Sun during the sunspot cycle. What happens to the Sun's luminosity when it's active and there is a lot of activity sunspot wise?? It's luminosity increases. What happens to the Earth when the amount of light and heat reaching it increases. It gets hotter. Now, there is lag due to the differences in solar insolation between air, water and land. Plus you have to factor in how the oceans store and carry the heat around, changes in cloud cover, water vapour content in the atmosphere, greenhouse gas concentrations etc etc etc.
So when the Sun is less active, as in during long periods of quiessence like the Maunder Minimum, the reduction of solar insolation at the Earth's surface cause a consequential reduction in heat being input into the climate, hence the Mini Ice Age. Remember, there is still a time lag between the drop (or rise) in solar activity and it's follow on effects on the planet, for the simple reason you can't just throw the switch and it immediately goes off or on. It may take a few years to a decade or two, but the follow on effects will occur.
Yes, it is an extremely complicated system...however, sometimes scientist tend to either do one of two things. 1. Look for simple explanations where there isn't any, and 2. Over complicate processes which are either simple or complicated to begin with. It's not just a case of not seeing the forest for the trees, it's also a case of not seeing the relationships between the forest, the trees, the soil, the rocks, all the critters, the Sun etc etc, because they let themselve become overwhelmed by it all. You need to stand back and consider everything, including the big picture.
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