I trained under FAA rules and did a hover-only solo in R22 after about 24 hours, but didn't do solo circuits until I had over 30 hours - a combination of weather out of limits and not being ready myself.
Personally, I enjoyed the first solo circuits because I felt completely prepared for whatever might happen. I found the learning process slow to pick up (I'm over 40!).
However other (mainly younger) pilots at the same school were gagging to get up as early as they could, thinking it would somehow affect how they were viewed in the future by prospective employers. Not wanting to become a career pilot, this wasn't a big deal for me - I just wanted to be as safe as I could be.
Along the same vein as this subject, I have heard (correctly? incorrectly?) that the Robinson factory will not permit staff to take up passengers on company aircraft (presumably on company business) unless they have over 300 hours total time. If correct, it demonstrates that they are taking a considerable amount of care, and all credit to them for that. Taking passengers as a newly qualified pilot is great, but a big distraction and the accident rate for low-time qualified pilots isn't pretty.
So my question is: for newly qualified PPL pilots, is it wise to self-limit themselves to solo flight or flight with instructors or other rated pilots until they have a certain number of hours over & above their license grant time? If so, how many hours?
BW