Alexander Hans Preiss was born on March 3rd, 1980 in Berlin.
He studied physics from 2000 to 2007 at the Humboldt University in Berlin and mastered in experimental solid state physics. He wrote his thesis on the "Possibility of substitution of indium by tin in a CIS solar cell" in order to reduce the cost for existing photovoltaic energy generators at the Hahn Meitner Institute in Berlin.
In 2007, he started his PhD in the Department of Electrical Drives on "Yield Simulation of PV generators" at the Technical University of Berlin. At the same time he began to setup the outdoor laboratory of the Photovoltaik Institut Berlin AG.