He used the panel, and later a generator from a road crew, to stop his battery from shutting down before he was able to get towed.
If I had a gas car, I would stop my car and try to find a tow truck.
It seems like an ICE owner would be in the exact same situation without the need to deploy solar panels or talk to a road crew.
The article doesn't say why he needed to keep his battery from shutting down - was it to prevent an EV-specific failure mode, or was it so he could keep running the AC?